Programme of Ale Kino! Pro

This year’s programme Ale Kino! Pro’s main focus is to look at the standards of working with children and young people on set and what the practices and supporting tools are like – both in Poland and internationally.
This topic will be addressed by Christian Lo in the masterclass ‘Why are stories for young people the greatest stories?’. We will get to know the director’s experience of working and making films with children and young people – from story building and film language, casting and his method of preparation, to how he works with child and teen actors on set and how he works with his team.
Christian Lo is an award-winning director with over a decade of experience working with young people. “Los Bando”, 2018 was the most awarded Norwegian feature film at festivals in 2018 and was nominated for a European Film Award – EFA Young Audience Award in 2019. During the 42nd IFFMW Ale Kino! we will be showing his latest film ‘Zlatanka and the Beloved Uncle’ (‘Lill-Zlatan och morbror Raring’, 2022), an adaptation of Pia Lindenbaum’s book.

The topic will be continued in a panel discussion with participants including Mariella Harpelunde Jensen, who will introduce us to regulatory issues in Denmark (director of the BUSTER Film Festival in Copenhagen), Marta Karwowska (director of the films ‘Tarapaty’ and ‘Tarapaty 2’) and Sylwia Szostak (researcher on media, production culture and the organisation of the audiovisual industry).

PRESENTATION OF NEW POLISH PRODUCTIONS FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE AND WORKSHOPS ON CREATING CONTENT AND REACHING OUT TO AUDIENCES

An important part of Ale Kino! Pro is the pitching forum New Polish Films on the Horizon, where films and animations in the early development stage are presented to a group involved in education and working with young audiences. This is the place to conduct initial research on your target audience and gather feedback on your film, series, or documentary idea: does the project meet the needs of your target group? Is it interesting to them? Does it have educational value? These are just a few of the questions we aim to answer.

This year, five film projects will be presented: two documentaries, “Szymon” (directed by Stefan Łazarski, produced by Agnieszka Skalska) and “Becoming That Man” (directed by Martyna Nitkowska and Weronika Perłowska), one feature-length animation, “Born Happy” from Letko Studio, and two live-action film, “The Adventures of Baltazar Gąbka” (directed by Marta Karwowska, known for “Tarapaty”) and “A Million Billion Father Christmases” (by Katarzyna Warzecha, Marcin Osiadacz. The forum will be moderated by Zofia Jaroszuk.

As an extension of the pitching forum, Ewa Bojanowska (a film festival consultant, marketing consultant, and audience designer) will lead a workshop on audience design. We will seek to answer questions such as: Who is the audience we are creating films for? What are their most essential and defining characteristics? How can we discuss films in a way that remains true to our creative vision while also reaching viewers? This workshop is intended for accredited educators and creators.

WORKSHOPS AND MEETING WITH INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED FILM CRITIC ALAIN BERGALA

The workshop segment, aimed at a diverse group of participants, will provide a space to explore best practices and identify areas needing additional support. We will also look into France’s experience with film education.

For those involved in education, we have prepared a selection of workshops across various fields.

Stop-Motion – Artistic Education through Film offers workshops conducted by the Animatik Foundation. These workshops combine theoretical knowledge of animated films made using stop-motion techniques with hands-on practice. The sessions will be led by Paulina Wyrt and Robert Kuźniewski.

Three options will focus on creative film analysis: a masterclass, a debate, and workshops.

The masterclass, led by Alain Bergala, presents an opportunity to engage with a creator of an alternative approach to film education and the author of an educational program implemented by French Minister of Education Jack Lang between 2000 and 2002. Bergala proposes shifting away from traditional film analysis towards an exploration of the creative process, examining the questions that accompany it (e.g., what choices were made, what was left out) and seeking answers to these questions. This approach allows educators not only to view film analytically but also to see the creative process itself as an equally significant element.

In the field of film education, we offer Watch and Create – Methodology Workshops based on practices developed by the French association Le Cinéma, cent ans de jeunesse. Founded in 1995 by film scholars, educators, and cinema professionals, the association’s mission is to teach children and young people, aged six to eighteen, about film through a method created, described, and utilized by French film scholar Alain Bergala and film educator Nathalie Bourgeois. In these workshops, we will familiarize ourselves with the stages of the annual work cycle proposed by the association and complete sample tasks similar to those carried out by group leaders with their participants in the project. The workshops will be led by Agata Hofelmajer-Roś.

Complementing these sessions will be the Debate on Film Education as a Creative Process with an international panel. Guests will include Ralitsa Assanova (Arte Urbana Collectif, Meetings of Young European Cinema, Le cinéma, cent ans de jeunesse), Paulina Ratajczak (Las Sztuki Foundation), and Alejandro Bachmann (LICHTSPIEL – Netzwerk kulturelle Filmbildung).

For film critics, we offer What Kind of Film Criticism for Young Audiences? workshops, continuing last year’s discussion panel. We revisit and deepen the topics around what qualities film criticism for young audiences could embody, aimed at a diverse group of viewers. A working group has been established, coordinated by Patrycja Rojek from the Institute of Film, Media, and Audiovisual Arts at UAM, and the results of the group’s work will be published on the Festival’s website.

To participate in Ale Kino! Pro an accreditation must be purchased.

Available accreditation types:

• accreditation for educators and educators

Accreditation entitles you to participate in Ale Kino! Pro, festival screenings and participation in workshops.

Cost: 150 PLN

• industry accreditation

Accreditation authorises you to participate in panel discussions and lectures as part of Ale Kino! Pro, as well as festival screenings

Cost: 150 zł

• accreditation for students

Accreditation allows you to participate in Ale Kino! Pro and festival screenings

Cost: 50 zł

• accreditation for critics and critics, journalists and journalists, people writing about film

For this accreditation, please contact Ewa Muszkiet: emuszkiet@alekino.com

The accreditation form is available at: https://alekino.filmchief.com/request-accreditation/alekino-2024

Accreditations will be available until 20 November or until the pool of places is exhausted.

ORGANISATIONAL INFORMATION

The event will take place from 27-29 November 2024 in Poznań.

Venue: Wspólna Scena, 1 Brandstaettera St., 61-663 Poznań.

Organiser: Children’s Art Centre in Poznań

Co-financing information: Polish Film Institute

Partners of the event the European Children’s Film Association, ie: Kamera Akcja Festival.

Full programme of Ale Kino! Pro

Accreditations