26/05/2017 - The world’s largest children’s and youth film festival is opening its gates for the 57th time this year

The oldest and largest showcase of children’s and youth films, the Zlín Film Festival (International Film Festival for Children and Youth), will screen 326 movies from a record-breaking total of 62 countries during its upcoming edition. “The interest among filmmakers increases every year. We are receiving more and more film submissions, and we have to be careful when selecting them,” says artistic director Markéta Pášmová, who also reveals that the festival programmers had to sift through 2,331 films in order to put together the final 326-strong selection, split into five competition sections and nine non-competitive sidebars. “This year, we have decided to pick a smaller number of films. We want to make our festival more concise for the audience,” adds Pášmová.

This year’s competition of European feature debuts will introduce Amanda Kernell’s Sami Blood [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Amanda Kernell
interview: Lars Lindstrom
film profile], Peter Foott’s The Young Offenders [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Tereza Nvotová’s Filthy [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tereza Nvotová
film profile] and René Frelle Petersen’s Where Have All the Good Men Gone [+see also:
trailer
film profile], while the competition of feature films for children includes Petter Lennstrand’s Up in the Sky [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Michel Boujenah’s Heartstrings [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Iveta Grófová’s Little Harbour [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Iveta Grófová
film profile] and Meikeminne Clinckspoor’s Cloudboy [+see also:
trailer
film profile], among many others.

The 57^th edition will spotlight Swedish cinema, thus honouring the 110^th birthday of the creator of Pippi Longstocking, Astrid Lindgren, in partnership with the biggest Swedish film festival for children and young people, BUFF, in Malmö. The Days of Swedish Cinema section will present a taste of cinema from the Nordic nation in the guise of Pippi in the South Seas, Lotta Leaves Home, Astrid, Sebbe [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Let the Right One In [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: John Nordling
interview: Tomas Alfredson
film profile], Fanny and Alexander, and others. In addition to Sweden, Swiss cinema for young people and children will also be projected onto the big screen in Zlín as part of another country focus – the titles include Clara and the Secret of the Bears, Jimmie, Rascals on the Road, Sister [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kacey Mottet Klein
interview: Ursula Meier
film profile] and the award-winning and internationally celebrated My Life as a Zucchini [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Claude Barras
film profile].

Despite its relatively niche film orientation, the festival runs its screenings in parallel with an industry programme that is nevertheless not aimed exclusively at film professionals, with a workshop on pitching led by Slovakian filmmaker Mira Fornay, a conference on formal and informal education, a presentation of Czech works in progress for children and youngsters, a panel on how to successfully engage with the local audience, a discussion on scriptwriting development and a CinEd seminar for teachers.

The 57^th International Film Festival for Children and Youth runs from 26 May–3 June in Zlín, Czech Republic.