An audience favourite, the KIDS’ REEL selection of short films is especially suitable for preschoolers. With a total running time of under an hour, the selection of shorts brings together works from the best and most tradition-rich animation studios in Europe. Masterfully designed, reflecting a variety of moods, and different from anything you see daily, these animated works will move and delight you.
The KIDS’ REEL Short Film Competition (the European Children’s Film Association prize) seeks to highlight quality European children’s films that use the cinematic medium in an eloquent and considerate way to convey themes relevant to children. Entries must be suitable for audiences up to 7 years of age.
Entries
The KIDS’ REEL Short Film Competition programme includes no less than 8 and no more than 12 short films with a maximum running time of 30 minutes for which the majority of production financing has been sourced in a European Union or European Economic Area member country, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland.
The submitted films have to have been completed no earlier than 30 June 2020, and their Latvian premiere must take place during RIGA IFF. There is one exception to this rule – although it is preferable that Latvian films premiere at RIGA IFF, this is not a requirement.
Prize
The selected titles are judged by an international jury consisting of at least 3 film professionals that are members of the European Children’s Film Association (ECFA). The winning film will be eligible for the ECFA Short Film Award, voted on by all ECFA members and presented during the Berlinale each February. The RIGA IFF Award Ceremony takes place on the second Saturday of the festival.
Deadline
The call for submissions opens on 22 March and closes on 30 June. The submission fee is EUR 10 per entry and all submissions are free of charge for the first month, until 22 April. The results will be announced by 10 September 2022.
Mika Anttolainen is the director of the Oulu International Children’s and Youth Film Festival and a board member of the Metka Centre for Media Education in Helsinki. The festival takes place in the coastal city of Oulu on the Gulf of Bothnia and features a varied programme for younger people and works consistently with local audiences. As a sharp contrast, Anttolainen was previously the Chairman of the Board of the iik! week Horror Festival for 14 years, and curated events for Oulu Arts Night for eight years.
Jo-Anne Blouin
Jo-Anne Blouin has spent her entire professional career creating and developing content for children. At the age of 16, she started working with children's theatre in her native Quebec, and later turned to audiovisual media, creating the Montreal International Children's Film Festival (FIFEM) going on to become its Executive then Creative Director. From 1998 to 2008, she worked as the Executive Director of the International Center of Films for Children & Young People (CIFEJ), and in 2017 she was awarded an honorary membership of the European Children's Film Association (ECFA).
Hanna Reifgerst
Hanna Reifgerst studied visual communication at the Bauhaus University in Weimar and the College of Arts & Design in Barcelona. Since 2007, she has been working as a project manager for script development and dramaturgical content for young audiences at the funding platform Outstanding Films for Children. Previously, she curated the youth film competition at the Goldener Spatz Children's Media Festival in Germany. Since spring 2022, she has been programming the children's and youth film screenings at the Lübeck Nordic Film Days. She currently lives in Weimar with her two children, husband, and elderly cat.
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