History

The International Kids For Kids Festival constitutes a unique, international movement for the promotion and advertisement of audiovisual messages created by children for children.

The Kids For Kids Festival is a Greek initiative, whose development was funded originally by the European Programme Youth-EuroMed, the Hellenic General Secretariat for Youth, the Hellenic Audiovisual Institute and the Hellenic Ministry of Culture as an event during the Cultural Olympiad 2001.

This initiative functioned experimentally from 1997 up to 2000 in the framework of the International TV Event “AGORA-MED”. It was presented in the international audiovisual field during the 3rd World Summit on Media for Children, Greece 2001.

Since 2001 the Kids For Kids Festival has developed into an international dynamic festival and network which collects its annual participations through the internet. Each year there are approximately 700 participations, from 65 countries of the world.

The International Centre of Film for Children and Youth (CIFEJ) has undertaken the quality control of the Kids For Kids Festival.

The pre-selection of the participants, on national and regional level, has been undertaken by the Regional and National Kids For Kids Festivals. Members of CIFEJ organize the National and Regional festivals. National Festivals are organized in England, France, and in Iran. Regional Festivals are organized in Africa, in the Balkans, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and the Nordic and Baltic Sea.

Each year an International Award Ceremony is organized. It was hosted for three years in Greece (2001, 2002, 2004), three years in Italy (2003, 2005, 2007), a year in Cyprus (2006) and two years in Canada (2008-2009).

Objectives

Films, TV shows and the digital media constitute educational and entertaining tools and are a beneficiary and positive influence to the youth of the world. Their huge impact on the life and imagination of teenagers is obvious.

Children speak! This fundamental right of every child and every teenager is guaranteed by the UN’s Treaty of Children’s Rights. It is necessary that this right is respected in the field of audiovisual media. For the positive development of world society, the younger generations should be active and creative.

The modern audiovisual media are able to promote the personal expression of young people and their creative expression. The young people are acquainted with modern technology and its capabilities. Their involvement with cinema and other media, assists young people to develop the necessary social skills and their creativity.

The Festival’s Organization

Each year young film makers, from all over the world, are invited to submit their participations in the Kids for Kids Festival through the internet.

Independent participations are gathered from all the countries of the world and from the Regional and National Kids for Kids Festivals. Each year in the spring we organize the pre-selection of the films. The independent participations are pre-selects at the Film Collection Centre seated in Canada. The Regional and National Festivals organize their own pre-selections and send the results to the Film Collection Centre.

Each year in the Fall we organize the International Award Ceremony of the films and we issue a DVD with the best films.

The Annual International Event

During the Annual Award Ceremony the following are invited:

* Children and young people that distinguished themselves in the National and Regional Festivals
* Children and young people from the hosting country
* Educators and researchers specialized in audiovisual education
* Professionals and journalists of media

During the International Ceremony the following are organized:

* Screenings of the awarded films of the Kids For Kids Festival of the last three years. The screenings are watched by organized groups of children and young people (youth centres, schools, cultural centres). In the screening the audience votes for the audience award.
* Cinema and animation workshops.
* Open film club, which functions throughout the day and allows entrance to isolated visitors.
* Seminars for parents and teachers.
* The final award ceremony has a celebratory character and we send invitations to public institutions, companies and organizations that support the organization in the hosting country.

At the International Award Ceremony 30 children from around the world and 20 children from the hosting country are invited. These children form the Youth Jury. There is also a Professionals Jury consisting of representatives of the National and Regional Festivals.

The films that compete are submitted electronically on the web page of the For Kids Festival. Throughout the festival, the web page is updated daily and allows children to watch the participations to the festival, the pre-selections, the events and the awards. The films that distinguished exist both on the web page with photographs and relevant information. The web page also possesses a chat-room accessible to children from all over the world.

DVD with the best films

Each year we create a DVD (Best of) with a selection of the best films of the festival and an informative leaflet about the films. His package is distributed to festivals, educational institutions and cultural centres all over the world, so that young people can see the work of their peers and to listen to their creative voices. In the words of a fifteen year old who participated in the festival, “The Kids For Kids Festival provides an area for the international promotion of young film-makers. It distributes their work to Europe, America, Middle East and Eurasia, and enables them to achieve world-wide recognition.

In 2008 the “Best of Compilation” was shown in 25 countries.

Jo-Anne Blouin

International Executive Director, Kids for Kids

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