Filmsko gledališče Idrija, 28.–29th of November 2024
Winners of the Youth and Heritage Film Festival 2024
Thematic category: Youth and Heritage
Age category 11–14 years
1st place: The Savior in His Youth (Sauveur dans sa jeunesse), Belgium, 2024
The Savior in His Youth – the story of a lump of coal takes us back to the time of hard work in the coal mines in Belgium. A topic that we in Idrija are well aware of and that we know is not always the easiest to portray. The story is imaginatively told through the character of an elder, a lump of coal, who witnessed an accident in the mine. Ironically, the lump itself tries to help two trapped miners who risk their lives every day to lift the ore to the surface. The jury was convinced by the simple stop-motion animation, which manages to effectively show the complexity of work in the mine and at the same time represents a tribute to heritage through a child’s view of the past. The short animated film The Savior in Youth has a thoughtful and just-right effect at all levels of production, from script to animation.
Special mention: The Frog Who Wished to be as Big as an Ox, author: Jade Dandan Evangelista, production: Victory Christian International School, Philippines, 2024
Preserving cultural heritage is also preserving stories that circulate from one generation to another. And if the story is lucky, it is not only told, but also depicted. The enthusiastic young author from the Philippines, Jade Dandan Evangelista, under the stage name Wetsipon, successfully tells the story of a frog that, in its desire to become as big and powerful as an ox, inflated itself for so long that it burst, through simple, flat and colorful, completely basic animation. The animation is complemented by the author’s witty interpretation of the characters’ voices and her playful singing. The jury awards the film a Special Mention.
Age category 15–19 years
1st place: Morana, author: Gabriela Čížková, production: Náhorní DUKE Secondary School, Czech Republic, 2024
Morana, an animated film by Czech author Gabriela Čížková, focuses on a time when nature played a decisive role, and old fairy tales were the ones through which the community could learn about and understand its power. Morana, the ancient Slavic goddess of death, brings winter and seemingly stops life. But with this, nature also brings time to rest and prepare for a new birth, an introduction to re-flowering. According to the jury, the film skillfully combines the narrative and motifs of a folk song through cartoon animation on a completely artistically perfect level. We were impressed by the execution and extraordinary precision in the production of the animation, which transformed the old and well-known story about the cyclical nature of life and nature into a generous cinematic experience.
Special mention: The Suitcase (A Mala), by Diogo Pereira, produced by CineArte Project – EB23 CANIÇO SCHOOL, Madeira, Portugal, 2021
The short film tells the story of how important it is to truly experience our lives and not just survive them. It opens up many existential questions that touch every individual and answers them from a perspective that may no longer be the most common in today’s times. It presents a vision of a life that is seemingly simpler and removed from modern distractions, but is therefore all the more valuable because it is filled with what matters most. In the suitcase that a grandfather left to his grandson, he finds memories of his grandfather’s childhood, which was full of simple games and carefree escapes into nature. The film’s message that we still have all this within reach, if only we knew how to turn in the right direction, that is, away from the screaming light of the screens, brings the young Spanish director Diogo Pereira and screenwriter Angie Sousa a festival special mention.
Special mention: Vojarinka, authors: Anja Bajuk, Lana Kramarič, Lucija Kostelec, Tjaša Vraničar, Žan Žlogar, mentors: Jelena Dragutinović, Lene Lekše, Duška Vlašič, Slovenia, production of Metlika Elementary School, Društvo Slon, 2021
The special award for the film presentation of local cultural heritage goes to the short animated film Vojarinka, which presents traditional dance songs in a playful and fresh way, and the simple but effective animation creates the atmosphere of an archaic Metlika ritual.
Thematic category: Free theme
Age category 11–14 years
1st prize: Flower waltz, by Snytnikova Kristina and Snytnikova Karina, produced by Animation studio “Ryabinushka” preschool educational institution Novosibirsk, Russian Federation, 2023
Flower waltz, an animated film by elementary school authors Kristina and Karina Snytnikova, is based on the collage and interweaving of flowers, which create a poetic and unique animated dance. The short animation plays with the figurality of random shapes in a mixture of almost abstraction. The jury awards the animation the award for the best film in the free theme, because it allowed the young authors to fully express themselves artistically and at the same time left them free to let this expression fly in a direction that may not yet be fully defined, but is certainly full of its intention for developing creativity.
Special mention: Where there’s people, there’s plastic, authors: a group of elementary school children, mentors: Jelena Dragutinović, Lene Lekše, Andreja Goetz, production: Društvo Slon, Slovenia, 2023
The animation was created by children according to the principle of embracing the trash, when found objects whose primary function is not artistic become the main actors of a short film on the topic of environmental protection. Waste plastic, corks, straws, torn bags and pieces of foil form the bodies of marine animals, which get caught in this plastic and live a shorter life because of it. The lesson of the film is convincingly shown and also makes sense of the issue of environmental protection with its artistic form, which is why we believe that it definitely deserves a special mention. The film was created as part of the project of the Society for the Implementation of Film Education – Slon under the mentorship of Andreja Goetz, Jelena Dragutinović and Lene Lekše.
Special mention: Cineclub, authors: group of children (10–11 years old), production: “C.E.I.P. Serrería” Public School in València, Spain, 2024
The first frames show the joy with which the students create films. A cute film that, with short sequences, shows the essence of values such as acceptance, interaction and helping others – as well as empowerment, because an individual who seems to have a harder time in life due to various circumstances, as a society, should not be deprived of the power they have over their own lives. The film also impresses with its natural play, and even more so with its message about the importance of the aforementioned values. And cinema – yes, it is high on the list of the students who created the film.
Age category 15–19 years
1st prize: Vacuum, Author: Lara Jakovina, production: FKVK Zaprešić, Croatia, 2024
The animated short film Vacuum by young Croatian author Lara Jakovina opens up the topic of everyday life experienced by the elderly. The main character of the story is a grandmother who is initially trapped, as one would stereotypically expect, in the monotony of everyday tasks. Her loneliness is interrupted by two salesmen who sell her a new vacuum cleaner. But the grandmother, accustomed to brooms, uses the vacuum cleaner for everything other than what it was designed for. Until the vacuum cleaner comes to life and becomes her companion. The story turns from the everyday into the fantastic and tells of how our ideas about old age are all too often wrong. The jury was convinced by the film’s story structure, humorous twists and simplified line drawing, which allowed the film to extract the most essential thing from it – the joy of life regardless of age.
Special Mention: Illuminare, author: Nihal Singh Nijor, production: Esher Sixth Form College, Great Britain, 2024
A poetic film that tells the story of hope for a different and better world. It offers the viewer an insight into the individual’s desire to break through from dullness into life, which is also represented by the grayscale color scale from which the animation is built. Despite the fact that the world is presented in monochrome, a firefly appears within the grayscale, bringing one of the long line of workers back to life. In a dark and rough-depicted world, the firefly appears as a long-awaited arrival of color, bringing change with it. The jury gives the film a special mention, as it is distinguished by a special kind of atmosphere and universal message.
Program on Thursday, November 28th, 2024
17:00 Opening of the festival
1. Presentation of the short film by students of the optional film elective subject: Just Another Ordinary Story (12:40), created by students: Anelie Markovič (script, direction), Adam Kuduzovič (editing), Tomaž Močnik (camera), Jan Božič, Tija Podgornik (sound). Starring: Luka Laharnar, Tilen Jurjavčič, Rene Česnik, Neli Pellis, Anelie Markovič, Nika Flego, Petja Tončič Petkovšek and teachers Greta Vončina and Melita Rutar.
The film won 1st prize in the MIDI Slovenian films category at the international festival of short youth films ENIMATION 2024 (Maribor).
2. Competition program – thematic section Youth and Heritage (54 minutes)
3. Competition program – free topic – part 1 (24:09)
Program on Friday, November 29th, 2024
18:00 Start of the program
1. Presentation of the short film by the students of the Gimnazija Nova Gorica Tako tudi mi (4:40) and film activities at their school. Authors of the film: Živa Jermol, Gaia Bizjak Dronjić, Manca Brezavšček Trampuž, production: KINOkašča /CINEMattic.
2. Competition program – free topic – part 2 (44:05)
3. Accompanying programme – short films for young people and a selection of films from the ENIMATION 2024 festival.
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About festival
The town of Idrija is known for its 500-year mining tradition and its rich technical and natural heritage, which is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. In addition to mining, Idrija also prides itself on lace making and culinary specialties.
We understand heritage as an important component of the identity of the city and its people, so we want to further expand this awareness. The goal of the festival is thus to encourage young people to take a creative cinematic view of cultural heritage, especially technical heritage. In this way, we want to preserve it and involve it as actively as possible in the functioning of the community, especially in the views of young people. The purpose of the festival is to ensure that the heritage is not just a remnant, but rather an incentive for the creativity of young people in the artistic field and also in life. Submitted films should therefore actively include elements of heritage, which can be tangible or intangible, but preferably from the creators’ home environment. Heritage items should be an integral part of the narrative or they should motivate the story itself (heritage should not only serve as a scenography or place of action). Genres of submitted films can be: animated, feature or documentary.
The festival thus enables children and youth to present and learn about diverse cultural heritage and to become aware of its importance for their identity and future.
The goal of the festival is to attract as many young creators as possible, so the festival also accepts films with other themes. Films must be suitable for young viewers in the age categories up to 14 years or 15-19 years.
The festival also accepts high-quality films by authors who are over 19 years old. These films must be suitable for young audiences and will be shown in a companion (non-competition) programme.
