Conference Children & Film: Hear, See & Do

Tuesday March 8th 2011

(during the 23rd edition of the festival)
Cinema Zuid/FotoMuseum, Waalsekaai 47, 2000 Antwerp
10-17u

In cooperation with the City of Antwerp (Culture and Education) and University of Antwerp (research group Visual Culture)

Do children watch films in a different way? Wouldn’t it be better to change the film rating “Not suitable for people under 16” to “Not suitable for parents”? Why are films important for the development of children? How can we define a good children’s film according to the Cinekid Film Festival in Amsterdam and Studio 100? Is art film at the MACBA in Barcelona popular with children?

Who should attend

• Filmprofessionals
• Teachers and students media/film
• Art educational organisations
• Youth workers
• Policy makers
• Professionals/advisers media literacy

Speakers

Cary Bazalgette (United Kingdom): expert in media education, British Film Institute (1979-2007)
Extending Children's Experience of Film

Why should children learn about film, and what should they learn? To answer these questions we need to consider what children's early experiences with moving image media are likely to have been, and what we think they may have learned from them. And if we are serious about fitting in film education to the early school curriculum then we need to provide clear messages about this to policy-makers who don't necessarily know that much about film.

Myriam Rubio (Spain): coordinator public programmers MACBA (Museum of Contemporary Art Barcelona)
Artfilm for children

Little Histories of Cinema, is an experimental program of film and video addressed to the young audiences that was born in 2006 at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona and that so far has produced 11 different programs, with an average of 2 programs per year. Here we discuss in which way art film can contribute to children’s experience.

Nancy Vansieleghem: pedagoog University of Ghent
How good or bad should films for children be? Should be go from 'children not allowed’ to ‘parents not allowed’ at the movies?

The content of this lecture is the movie ‘Let the right one in’ of the Swedish director Thomas Alfredson. This film shows young children. Game, cruelty, inhumanity. The director nuances nor hides the characteristics of the young child, and he neither mocks them. He lets them exist and lets us experience this existence with his film. We see cruel and brutal images. A picture of a hallucinatory humanity speaks in this film. It shows a devastating accuracy. You won’t see a sensational of emotional film. It shows us an illuminated view. This view is prohibited for the young child. The film is labeled children not allowed. In this lecture this label will be discussed. Not to save the child in an ultimate gesture of revaluation, but to open the debate about the value that the young child is granted today.

Matteo Zacchetti: European Commission
A European approach to media literacy: framework and good practices

Media literacy is the ability to access the media, to understand and to critically evaluate different aspects of the media and media contents an to create communications in a variety of contexts. Media literacy relates to all media. It is a fundamental competence for everybody but especially for children. The Commission considers media literacy as an important factor for active citizenship in today's information society and is eager to share some good practices around Europe in which children and film are the key subjects.

Marlies Van Hoek (The Netherlands): Coprogrammer film/Project Manager Film Cinekid festival Amsterdam
Dominique Stas: General Director Benelux Studio 100
Vincent Bal: director
What makes a good film for children? Three different visions.

The conference will present inspiring stories from Belgium and abroad and will include an interactive session to exchange ideas. More info on timing and speakers soon online.

Free but mandatory enrolment iris@jeugdfilmfestival.be (limited seating)