Documentaries

LUCAS – int’l Festival for Young Film Lovers

Docs are everywhere

LUCAS – Int’l Festival for Young Film Lovers (30 September – 7 October) sets a focus on documentary film. In addition to two live panels broadcasted via Zoom, several documentaries have been selected for competition, as well as a programme for the youngest moviegoers. In cooperation with DOK.education, documentary workshops will be available for schools.

How can documentaries reach young audiences? At LUCAS #44, two live panels on 5 October will explore this question; from the perspective of film educators and from the viewpoint of filmmakers. The first panel will focus on the direct experiences of film educators. The question “How can we spread our love for documentaries among young people?” will be addressed by representatives of European initiatives in a Zoom panel. Among others, Sabine Costa (Documentaire sur grand écran, France), Judith Funke (REALITY BITES, Germany), Gert Hermans (Ket & Doc, Belgium), Isabelle Minguillon (Docs Barcelona/Learning by docs, Spain) and Ginte Zulyte (Meno Avilys, Lithuania) are invited.

What are the specifics of successfully addressing young audiences with documentaries? What challenges does the market provide and how to improve conditions? In the conversation “Facing Reality: Documentaries for Young Audiences”, US perspectives meet representatives of European cinema. The panel discusses how both sides can learn from each other and in which films this has already been achieved. Confirmed participants are Brigid O’Shea (Documentary Association of Europe, Germany), Eroll Bilibani (DOKUFEST, Kosovo), Maarten Schmidt (Storyhouse Film, Belgium), Maya Reichert (DOK.edukation, Germany) and Kim A. Snyder (director, US).

Panel 1: Film Education – 5 October, 14:00-15:00 CEST Panel 2: Industry – 5 October, 15:3017:00 CEST Registration to lucas-welcome@dff. film; keyword: Panel 1 or Panel 2 Although making it far too rarely to the cinema screens, they do exist, those outstanding documentary films that can ignite a great passion in young people. The LUCAS programme is the best proof: in its competitions the festival presents energetic, moving and visually impressive titles. THE REASON I JUMP (Jerry Rothwell, US/UK), SOUL KIDS (Hugo Sobelman, France), SHADOW GAME (Eefjie Blankevoort & Els van Driel, the Netherlands) and US KIDS (Kim A. Snyder, US) deliver close insights into very different realities of life. They portray young activists making their voices heard after a high school rampage, tell of autistic youth, or show the reality of young people on the run. LUCAS also has an age-appropriate programme for the very young, introducing children to the peculiarities of documentary film in a playful way. The programme originates from the “Cinemini on Tour” project, in which the DFF and other European partners curated short film programmes for young children (see article page 16). Another guest at LUCAS is DOK.education. The educational section of DOK.fest München offers students in grades 3 – 13 the opportunity to understand the truth and reality of a documentary film narrative in “Schule des Sehens”.

Find all info about the 44th LUCAS – Int’l Festival for Young Film Lovers here.