The European Film Academy is pressing on with its commitment to promoting European cinema among young audiences. One of the means it is using to do this is the Young Audience Film Weekend, which this year took place for the third time, in early November. On the weekend of 4 and 5 November, 30 young people met in the German city of Erfurt. Thanks to the hybrid nature of the event, others were able to join remotely as well, via live-streaming. The young people themselves moderated and steered the course of the gathering. It was aimed at teenagers between the ages of 12 and 19 years old.

The title of this year's summit was “The Future of Humanity”. Together, the participants explored topics such as climate change, human rights, the societal impact of the pandemic (especially on young people's mental health), as well as visions of utopia and dystopia.

One of the events was a Film x TV Lab. Thirty young people came together with ten international broadcast experts to discuss a possible show that would present European culture in an entertaining and approachable way. Representatives of broadcasters including Czech TV, Germany’s ZDF and Radio & TV of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHRT), and content producers like Aardman Animations, m:brane and Urban Canyons were among them.

One of the most important achievements of this summit was the launch of the European Film Club, a common project co-created by the European Film Academy and young people from 25 countries. It is supported by Creative Europe – MEDIA. The club is a platform that enables people to watch and discuss European films. The movie catalogue has been curated to particularly suit the interests of youngsters between 12 and 19 years old. This initiative bolsters the Young Audience Award, which was set up by the European Film Academy in 2012.

“We want to give young people the freedom to explore the richness of European films and culture. Young audiences are very important to the European Film Academy, and it’s inspiring to see how many young Europeans have a real appetite to discover films from Europe,” said Matthijs Wouter Knol, CEO and director of the European Film Academy.

The youngsters’ reactions have been very enthusiastic: “It's amazing how one single initiative could bring together about 30 countries in one go,” says Francisca (14), from Portugal. “I felt really drawn to this project, the European Film Club, because I've always felt that cinema is a place for everyone. I think it's a reflection of our society. Young people are such a big part of making sure that cinema stays relevant,” adds Gia (18), from the UK. And Raluca from Romania adds: “European cinema is meant for everybody, and everyone should have access to it. The process of co-creating the European Film Club has been a very profound learning experience for us.”

Finally, the three films nominated for this year's European Young Audience Award have been announced. They are Longing for the World [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Charlotte Regan, from the UK. The winner will be announced at the European Film Awards ceremony on 9 December 2023, in Berlin.