EVENT DESCRIPTION
A-FilmTeens:
A = “A” quality audiovisual works
FilmTeens = teenagers and children shooting films
It is an international festival of audiovisual works made by the youngest generation, aged 6 to 20, from around the world. It takes place online on the platform www.afilmteensfest.com and in various cinemas across the Czech republic.
The project took place for the 1st time on December 14-15, 2019, in Prague in the Cinema Světozor as Teenfilmfest.cz. Because of Covid pandemic, we continued in 2020 with online screenings for schools only. The regular 2nd year of the festival took place online in November 14 - December 5, 2021, by reaching over 9.500 streams and over 8.200 spectators. In the last 3rd edition we had films from 37 countries and 5 continents (Europe, Asia, America, Australia, Africa). Between 8 February and 12 March, a total of 161 films were screened free of charge on the online platform www.afilmteensfest.com in the following seven programme sections: Earth - A Place to Live, Roots, Me and The Ones that are Closest to Me, Inner Worlds, The System, Signs of the Times and Joy.
We welcome film submissions from enthusiasts all over the world—whether you are an individual filmmaker or part of a group that has created a film together. But please notice that we accept movies only made up to age 20!
The main theme of the 4th edition will be JOY OF EVERYDAY LIFE. What does everyday joy mean to you? Is it the smile on a friend's face, a family gathering, a sporting experience, or perhaps the protection of nature in your neighbourhood? Present your story through a short film that can be upbeat, serious, humorous, or exaggerated - it's up to you. While joy is the main theme, we continue to prioritise films on topics such as relationships, my identity, personal stories and sustainability.
The year of production of the work still not important to us but we do prefer recently developed movies. The preferred topics are Love (in various forms), Family and relationships, The nature and climate change, Cyberworld, Involvement of youth in the public space, Christian values, themes against racism, bullying, violence, discrimination, etc. However, works with other topics can be accepted as well. But videos supporting addictive substances and any type of violence, racism, nudity, and other inappropriate themes will be excluded.
The selection and awards of films will be decided by an international jury of professionals from the world of film and media (in 2019, the jury was composed of famous Czech personalities, such as the documentary filmmaker Vít Klusák, the writer and screenwriter Emil Hakl, the director and screenwriter Olga Dabrowská and other representatives of the youngest artistic generation in the Czech Republic). In 2021 the jurors included known Czech celebrities, as young popular actor Marek Lambora, an acclaimed actress Nela Boudová, a television journalist Jan Tuna, and other seven important personalities from Czech film world. The winners of the 3rd edition of 2023 were decided by a jury consisting of Tomáš Hanák (actor), Alena Müllerová (producer of Czech Television), Diana Cam Van Nguyen (animator), Antonie Formanová (actress), František Svěrák (editor), Jakub Šmíd (director and actor) and Martin Stýblo (sound engineer).
The works will be available online in approximately 40 - 45 min. sections. The sections of the audiovisual works will be drawn up according to the spectators’ ages: up to 8 years, 9 - 11 years, 12 - 14 years, 15 - 17 years, 18 - 20 years. If the proposals of films will allow it, we will form the sections for each of these age groups related to their topics. The films will have optional English and Czech subtitles.
The festival program will be complemented by workshops, talk shows and a Q&A - and they will be mediated to an international audience via online transmission. The Q&A events, always with the main creators of approx. five films whose work will be thematically and age-related, will be announced in advance. The themes of workshops will be announced. Topics of talk shows will be for example: Distribution and screening possibilities of the works made by children and youth (festivals, etc.), Presentation of the most successful incoming filmmakers from all over the world aged 12 to 17 etc. Project "Windows to the World" (film workshops for children from Czech children's homes) will also be presented. In 2021 we organized various workshops such as “Don´t worry and start with filmmaking”, “Bullying on internet”, “Fakenews” etc. The award ceremony will take place in person, in Prague cinema and it will be held in the presence of celebrities.
We want to support creativity, media literacy, the development of mind and aesthetics, moral and social perception, as well as the critical thinking of today’s children and young people. Our objectives are cultural enjoyment and entertainment, but also the upbringing of nowadays youth, as well as alternative education. It is important for us to inspire teachers and help them to develop audiovisual and media education. Our intention is to develop the quality and originality of the works made by teenagers through attractive, easy-to-use and constantly-improving techniques, which should lead to the elaboration of own original themes with minimal budgets.
The festival program, access to the film sections and other information will be gradually published on www.afilmteensfest.com.
Czech and foreign films will be evaluated together in the international competition in the main categories according to genre: 1. feature films, 2. documentaries, 3. animation, 4. experimental films and 5. other works (game art, music videos, jingles, commercials, reports, etc.) and 3 subcategories according to the age of the filmmakers: Teens Under (up to 11 years), Teens Juniors (12-15 years), Teens Seniors (16-20 years). The most interesting works will receive the following special awards: Best International Film, Best Czech Out-of-school Film, Best Czech School Film, Best work on environmental theme and Best rendering of a youth involvement in public space; three Audience Awards will be also announced, one of them will be the prize of a non-professional jury composed of teens from 11 to 17. The most prestigious prizes will be Ben Barenholtz Award and Vojtěch Jasný Award for an exceptional contribution in the field of youth films, international and in Czech Republic. Other special recognition will be handed over in case of a higher number of quality films. All the winners will receive graphically processed diplomas. The winners of main awards (1st places and special awards) will obtain prize packages from festival sponsors (as various electronic devices, games, cosmetics, books, clothes, writing/painting accessories etc.).
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March 2025
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December 2021
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Katherine Johnson
December 2021 -
Ava Bounds
December 2021 -
Liam Butler
December 2021
