Zlin IFF, the world’s oldest and largest children’s film festival, takes a new step with the introduction of a pitching forum of films for children, a genre that has always been particularly celebrated in the Czech Republic.
Documentary films, also a staple in Central European territories, get their own competition section: European Documentary Films for Young Audiences, alongside the competition of European First Feature Films.
Eight films have been selected for the International Competition of Films for Children, and another eight films have been selected for the International Competition of Films for Youth. The other CEE films in the main competition are My Grandpa is an Alien directed by Marina Andree Skop and Drazen Zarkovic in its Czech premiere, and Scent of Oranges directed by Ivan Pokorny, having its international premiere.
The main competition films follow.
International Competition of Films for Children
Chippa (India)
Directed by Safdar Rahman
My Extraordinary Summer with Tess (Netherlands, Germany)
Directed by Steven Wouterlood
You'll Never Walk Alone (China)
Directed by Geng Xu
My Grandpa is an Alien (Croatia, Luxembourg, Norway, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Bosna and Hercegovina)
Directed by Marina Andree Skop, Drazen Zarkovic
Produced by Studio Dim
Coproduced by the Croatian Radiotelevision, Wady Films (Luxembourg), Filmbin (Norway), MasterFilm, MagicLab (Czech Republic), Artileria (Slovak Republic), Senca Studio, Art Rebel 9 (Slovenia) and Fabrika (www.fabrika.com) (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Supported by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, the MEDIA Programme, Film Fund Luxembourg, the Norwegian Film Institute, Filminvest, the Czech Film Fund, the Slovak Audiovisual Fund, the Slovenian Film Centre and the Cinematography Fund Sarajevo
Douch (Iran)
Directed by Amir Mashhadi Abbas
Storm Boy (Australia)
Directed by Shawn Seet
The Question Thief (Czech Republic)
Directed by Jan Jirka
Produced by the Czech TV
Rocca (Germany)
Directed by Katja Benrath
International Competition of Films for Youth
Broken Mirrors (Israel)
Directed by Imri Matalon, Aviad Givon
Fight Girl (Netherlands, Belgium)
Directed by Johan Timmers
Scent of Oranges (Czech Republic, Germany, Slovak Republic)
Directed by Ivan Pokorný
Produced by Daniel Severa Production
Coproduced by the Slovak RTVS, the Czech TV, Trigon Production (Slovakia), Kinderfilm (Germany)
Supported by the Czech Film Fund, MDM (Germany), the Slovak Audiovisual Fund
Measure of a Man (USA)
Directed by Jim Loach
Psychobitch (Norway)
Directed by Martin Lund
Giant Little Ones (Canada)
Directed by Keith Behrman
Hacker (Denmark)
Directec by Poul Berg
Abe (USA)
Directed by Fernando Grostein Andrade