Basic info
A-FilmTeensFest
- A = "A" quality movies
- FilmTeens = teenagers shooting films
- Fest = great online Festival!!!
An international online festival of audiovisual works made by the young generation, aged 7 to 21, from around the world. It takes place from November 14th to December 5th, 2021 on the platform www.afilmteensfest.com - for the first time in this version! The project started in December 2019 in the Světozor art cinema in Prague as Teenfilmfest.cz, and in 2020 continued with screenings for schools.
The works will be screened in the following categories according to genre and the age of the creators:
5 main categories:
- fiction
- documentary
- animation
- experimental
- other works (music videos, jingles, commercials, clips, etc.)
4 subcategories by age:
- up to 10 years
- 11 - 14 years
- 15 - 17 years
- 18 - 21 years
Twenty basic prizes will be awarded: in each of the 5 main categories 4 prizes will be given, according to the age of the creators. The most interesting works will receive the following 8 awards: the Ben Barenholtz Award, the Vojtěch Jasný Award, Best International Film, Best Czech Out-of-school Film, Best Czech School Film and three Audience Awards (one of them will be the prize of a non-professional jury composed of 12- to 16-year-olds). If necessary, there will be seven additional honorable mentions. The winners will receive graphically-processed diplomas and prizes in kind from festival sponsors. The awarded films will be assessed by a jury of Czech and international professionals, and its members will be announced in time.
Deadlines of applications in 2021 are:
- Early bird: August 15th
- Optimal deadline: September 5th
- Regular: October 1st
- Very last: October 15th
Film fans from all over the world can apply. Films from abroad and the Czech Republic will compete together. The following topics have priority for us: Love (in various forms), Family and relationships, Nature and climate changes, Cyberworld, Christian values, themes against bullying, violence, discrimination, racism etc. Works with other subjects 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 year of production of the work is not important.
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 personalities, such as the documentary filmmaker Vít Klusák, the writer Emil Hakl, the screenwriter and director Olga Dabrowská and other representatives of the youngest artistic generation in the Czech Republic).
The total number of films will be announced. They 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: 1) up to 8 years, 2) 9 - 11 years, 3) 12 - 14 years, 4) 15 - 17 years, 5) 18 - 21 years. If the proposal 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 Czech, English and Spanish subtitles.
The festival program will be complemented by workshops, talk shows and a Q&A - and they will be mediated to international artists via an online transmission. The Q&A events, always with the main creators of the three to five films whose work will be thematically and age-related, will be announced in advance. The examples of planned workshops are: "Don't be afraid and start" (for youngest beginners), "Media literacy and discernment of information" (for teenagers) and "Professional Youtuber" (for youth aged 18 - 21). Topics of talk shows: 1) Abuse of youth on the Internet, 2) Presentation of the 5 most successful incoming artists from all over the world aged 12 to 17, 3) distributional use of the works made by children and youth (festivals, etc.). The project "Windows to the World" (film workshops for children from children's homes) will also be presented.
The festival opening will be streamed online and will take place on October 31st in the center of Prague on Wenceslas Square. The festival will be presented here and films of various ages and genres will be screened on a big screen during an approximately one-hour-long block. If the situation regarding the COVID pandemic allows, the award ceremony will take place in the Prague cinema „Pilotů" on Saturday, December 4th. Both events will be moderated by Czech celebrities. On December 5th, the most successful award-winning films will be screened.
The festival program, access to the film blocks and other information will be gradually published on www.afilmteensfest.com.
