ZLÍN FILM FESTIVAL International Festival for Children and Youth

International Film Festival for Children and Youth in Zlín belongs among the oldest and largest events of its kind worldwide. Founded in 1961 in the Czechoslovak hotbed of filmmaking for children and youth, the festival gradually acquired international presence and attention. The festival is a non-profitable event with all screenings and supporting events free of charge. The audience consists mainly of children and youth from the Zlín region, but also university students and adult visitors to whom late-night screening slot with appropriate dramaturgy are devoted. More and more film professionals from all over the world come to Zlín. The programme structure of the festival focuses above all on films for children and youth. Its programme scheme is very wide and apart from the main competitive sections of feature films for children and youth includes a competition of short animations for children or competitive documentaries dealing with problems of young people. In recent years we have been providing intensive support for young emerging filmmakers, which reflected in the competitive section Zlín Dog - International Competition of Student Films. Screenings are accompanied by a series of seminars, workshops and entertainment events for children and teenagers. Our festival enjoys a superb reputation internationally; it has given our country a good name abroad, as has been our intention. Among the world's famous personalities to have taken part in the Zlín Film Festival, we can include Alfonso Cuarón, Annie Girardot, Sir Christopher Lee, Sir Peter Ustinov or the talented young actors George MacKay or Art Parkinson. In 2019 the festival visitors could enjoy the big thematic section Discover and Explore (nature documentaries, travel documentaries, Balkan focus and indigenous films) and in 2020 it was 2020: Back to the Future with (science, technology, film special effects). We are looking forward to 64th edition that will take place from May 30 to June 5, 2024.