The London Children’s Film Festival
18 – 26 November 2006
www.londonchildrenfilm.org.uk
PATRONS: Anthony Horowitz, Mark Kermode, Mohini Sule, Meera Syal
First Light and The London Children’s Film Festival 2006
Mark Kermode, First Light Young Juries and Consultants Patron, ‘This provides a
great opportunity for young people to hone their critical skills, broaden their
knowledge of world cinema, and play an active part in an exciting festival’.
Pip Eldridge, First Light CEO ‘First Light’s core aim is to inspire young film
therefore I am delighted that we are working together with the London Children’s
Film Festival in its second year. The festival provides a unique opportunity for
young people to experience a wealth of world cinema at venues all over London. I
am very much looking forward to watching many screenings myself, especially
the young people’s films that are showcased before many of the main features.
The sponsorship of the Young Juries and Consultants is particularly important to
First Light as it enables young people to learn more, explore and critique films
and filmmaking.’
First Light and the London Children’s Film Festival are working together in a number of
ways:
First Light Young Juries:
As a result of the tremendously successful First Light Young Juries at last year’s
inaugural London Children’s Film Festival, First Light will again join forces with the
Festival and encourage more children to engage with film analysis and criticism as part
of this year’s event.
The two groups of First Light Young Jurors, seven to 11-year-olds and 12 to 14-yearolds, will be introduced to World Cinema. The children will explore how different cultures
tell stories on screen via a selection of films, the majority of which will be foreign
language with subtitles.
The First Light Young Juries are a crucial part of the Festival. Not only do children get to
voice what they like or dislike about film and why, but they are also empowered by the
opportunity to express their thoughts. The jurors in turn provide the LCFF with honest
feedback from children and encourage peer to peer critical debate.
The jurors commit a lot of time and energy to the Festival over their autumn half-term
holiday, but they get good reward (and plenty of biscuits!). They acquire film critique
skills through a series of workshops following the official selection screenings, and
receive top advice from the Festival Education team and film critic Mark Kermode, their
very own patron. The jurors will be given the task of selecting their favourite films to be
awarded First Light Young Jury Film Prizes. Last year’s jurors selected two foreign
language films, Pelican Man from Finland and Innocent Voices from Mexico, as winners
from a diverse choice of 16 films.
The young jurors will be recruited from across the city through Family Film Clubs at the
participating 16 festival venues, from the official festival website at
www.childrenfilmfestival.org.uk, from schools working with the Barbican and from the
Young London Network through the Mayor’s office.
Last year’s jurors were pleased to be involved and praised the scheme by saying:
“I enjoyed everything. I thought learning how to judge films rather than just saying why
they’re good or why they’re rubbish, was great.” Mwaka, 10
“I liked watching different films and films with subtitles and saying properly which films I
liked and which I didn’t like.” Anna, 13
The Young Consultants:
Building on the strengths of last year’s juries the Festival has invited them back as
Young Consultants. During September the Young Consultants picked their best bits from
the Festival and have now delivered their Official Selection of 14 films from 12 different
countries, in 11 different languages.
Young Filmmakers on Screen – Thursday 23 November at Croydon Clocktower:
The Festival is giving audiences the opportunity to see the recent work of young
Croydon filmmakers premiered on the big screen and discuss the filmmaking process
with them and First Light.
Part of the programme is a First Light funded project, Living Statistic, a powerful
documentary made by 10 young filmmakers aged between 16 and 18 and Bridport’s
PVA Media Lab on the theme of immigration and their friend Alex Kachepa’s family’s
struggle to avoid deportation back to Malawi.
Networking Events – Monday 20 November at Tricycle Theatre, Kilburn:
As part of the London Children’s Film Festival, First Light is hosting a networking event,
Make Friends and Influence People, which aims to share knowledge and best practice
as well as fostering relationships and developing partnerships between organisations
working with young people and film, training providers, production companies, strategic
agencies and young filmmakers.
Whilst the event is primarily a networking session there will be presentations led by the
Independent Cinema Office regarding exhibition and distribution, the BFI will deliver a
session on cineliteracy resources, First Light’s will discuss a model of good practice and
demonstrate Film Street, First Light new interactive website designed to engage primaryaged children with the joys of film. There will also be an opportunity for delegates to
book a one-to-one funding meeting at First Light’s surgeries.
Film Street - www.filmstreet.co.uk
Film Street, an inspiring and interactive world where children can learn about the joys of
filmmaking, is partnering up with the London Children’s Film Festival.
Guided by friendly Film Street characters, children will find out how films are made by
exploring fun-packed locations like the Animation Workshop and the Film Studio. There’s
also film clips to watch and exciting games to play; children’s work can be saved in a
special online Scrapbook, where you’ll find some great downloadable activities too!
Film Street’s Film Mag has all the latest film news and the online cinema screens films
from around the world alongside the latest trailers. But best of all, Film Street’s cinema is
unique because we’ll be premiering some of the freshest film work in the world,
produced by Film Street filmmakers.
Film Street’s cinema and Film Mag will feature clips and trailers from the Festival’s films,
articles about what’s on in the Festival, reviews and features from the perspective of the
First Light Young Jurors and Young Consultants alongside competitions and special
offers for all Film Street visitors.
Film Street has been endorsed by luminaries from the film world, notably Sir Alan Parker
who praised the site by saying, “Film Street is such a terrific idea: innovative, informative
and, above all, fun. Twenty years from now a successful young filmmaker will say, ‘I first
got hooked on film the moment I logged on to Film Street!’”
Film Street was commissioned by Culture Online, part of the Department for Culture,
Media and Sport and is being developed by First Light in partnership with CBBC, the
British Film Institute, the UK Film Council and Creative Partnerships.
ENDS
Contact
Clare Lewis – Marketing & Communications Manager
First Light
0121 753 4866 / 020 7323 1941
07967792358
[email protected]
www.firstlightmovies.com
Festival Press Office:
Sarah Harvey, 020 7703 2253 / 07958 597426 / [email protected]
Notes to Editors:
1. First Light was launched in May 2001 to fund and inspire the making of short digital films,
reflecting the diversity of young people’s lives. First Light is an initiative supported by the
UK Film Council with Lottery funding.
2.
First Light was established by Hi8us Projects in 2001 and has a long history with Hi8us
Projects Limited. Under the guidance and expertise of Hi8us, First Light has changed the
lives of many young people. Hi8us nurtured the young company and enabled it to
develop into the thriving organisation that it is today. Hi8us’ history and foresight helped
First Light to work with funding bodies enabling it to forge relationships with many
schools, filmmakers, film groups, youth groups and cinemas to produce films that
articulate the concerns and interests of many young people.
3. To date First Light has given more than 10,000 young people the chance to write, act,
shoot and produce over 700 films under the guidance of professional filmmakers. First
Light works in association with youth agencies, schools, colleges, production companies
and film clubs throughout the UK. Some young filmmakers have used First Light as a
stepping stone to gain work experience in the film industry.
4. For more information about
www.firstlightmovies.co.uk
First
Light
and
other
projects
log
on
to
5. The UK Film Council is the lead agency for film in the UK ensuring that the economic,
cultural and educational aspects of film are effectively represented at home and abroad.
We invest Government grant-in-aid and Lottery money in film development and
production; training; international development and export promotion; distribution and
exhibition; and education. Our aim is to deliver lasting benefits to the industry and the
public alike through:

creativity – encouraging the development of new talent, skills, and creative and
technological innovation in UK film and assisting new and established film-makers to
produce successful and distinctive British films;

enterprise – supporting the creation and growth of sustainable businesses in the film
sector, providing access to finance and helping the UK film industry compete successfully
in the domestic and global marketplace;

imagination – promoting education and an appreciation and enjoyment of cinema by
giving UK audiences access to the widest range of UK and international cinema, and by
supporting film culture and heritage.