It’s never too early to introduce culture or the arts to younger audiences. Over the past years, there has been a distinct drive towards creating vibrant programmes specifically aimed at children and young teens. A smaller, more niche event which needs to be added to the above list, is the Young Audience Film Day / The Young Audience Award (YAA) – a whole day dedicated to film, specifically designed with a target audience in mind. The annual event will take place simultaneously across 26 countries and several more cities in Europe this year.
The YAA features three nominated European films suitable for audiences aged 12 to 14 (or older). This year’s shortlisted films are: Girls Lost (Sweden), Rauf (Turkey) and Miss Impossible (France). The films often tap into contemporary culture or socially relevant topics; in fact, last year’s offering dealt with the topics of eating disorders, in the film My Skinny Sister (Sweden), or the complexities of losing a parent and adjusting to new environments in You’re Ugly Too (Ireland).
After the screenings, young audience members from each participating city cast a vote for their favourite film; their vote is then counted with the other votes from the participating countries. Two young jury speakers will finally announce the national result via video conference to Erfurt (Germany) during the awards ceremony in the evening; the ceremony is streamed live on the EFA’s website.
The event is coordinated by the European Film Academy in Germany, and has been organised nationally by the Creative Europe Desk (CED) Malta for the past four years. This year, CED Malta has partnered up with Eden Cinemas and is also collaborating with Arts Council Malta and the Valletta 2018 Foundation.
The event is free of charge for all who register by tomorrow. The event takes place on May 8 at the Eden Cinemas, St Julian’s. Registration is open online or by calling on 2567 4209 / 10.
www.creativeeuropemalta.eu