Dokumentarfilme für Kinder und Jugendliche / Documentaries for young audiences

Chair of the day: Aycha Riffi, Grimme Academy

13.30
REGISTRATION AND COFFEE

14.00 - 14.30
WELCOMING ADDRESS Dr. Ralf Heinen, Bürgermeister der Stadt Köln
Ruth Schiffer, Filmreferentin, Ministerium für Familie, Kinder, Jugend, Kultur und Sport des Landes NRW
Petra Schmitz, dfi im Filmbüro NW

13.30 - 15.00
KEYNOTE
Documentary films for children
Bernd Sahling, filmmaker

Screening of "Ednas Day" by Bernd Sahling, D 2009, 20 min

Part I: DOCUMENTARY FILMS AT THE KLICK OF A MOUSE — CROSSMEDIA STRATEGIES

15.00 - 16.15
PRESENTATION
The Dutch Touch of Kids & Docs und Zappechtgebeurd.nl —
How to connect a young audience with documentaries and the filmmakers‘ perspective
Meike Statema, International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam (IDFA)
Anna Pedroli, Dutch Cultural Media Fund
Melanie de Langen, VPRO Jeugd

Screening of “Sounds for Mazin” by Ingrid Kamerling, NL 2012, 19:10 min

16:15 - 17:00
BREAK

17.00 - 17.30
PRESENTATION
Creative documentary film for children and young people — the production and reception initiative dokyou
Meike Martens, production company blinkerfilm
Janna Velber, production company boogiefilm

Screening of “Ömer, the Lord” by Mehmet Akif Büyükataly, D 2011, 10:50 min

17.30 - 18.30
PRÄSENTATION
Dokmal – Curtain up on young documentary film from the WDR
Andrea Ernst / Stefanie Fischer, Department for ethics and education, WDR television

Screening of “To Be a B-Girl” by Yasmin Angel, D 2013, 20:20 min

18.30 - 19.30
PRESENTATION
Coalition for film education
The Onlineplattform Filmoteka Szkolna
Agata Sotomska / Anna Sienkiewicz-Rogowska, Polish Film Institute

20.00 - 22.00
RECEPTION
of dfi and Filmbüro NW in the Filmforum NRW foyer

Chair of the day: Astrid Beyer, documentary film center

Part II: PARTCIPATION IN DOCUMENTARY FILM FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

10.00 - 11.00
PRESENTATION
Personal stories of young people — the documentary video diary doxwise
Anne Sofie Hansen-Skovmoes, production company Copenhagen Bombay

11.00- 12.30
PANEL
A youthful appearance is no longer enough — participation and documentary television on the occasion of doku.klasse 2014
Introduction: Gudrun Sommer, doxs! dokumentarfilme für kinder und jugendliche/Duisburger Filmwoche
Panel with
Calle Overweg, filmmaker
Katya Mader, film editor ZDF/3sat
Dr. Frauke Gerlach, director of the Grimme Institute
Delia West, student and participant of doku.klasse 2014
Chair: Christian Popp, YUZU Productions/docdays Productions

12.30 - 14.00
LUNCH BREAK

14.00 - 15.30
PANEL
What is the future of documentary television for young target audiences? — Appraisals and suggestions
Panel with
Birgit Keller-Reddemann, head of editorial office for education, WDR television
Phillis Fermer, executive Producer, EBU-Exchange Children Documentary Series
Nadine Pellet-Zwick, editor ARTE Junior
Chair: Marcus Seibert, scriptwriter

Part III: IT’S POSSIBLE WITHOUT TELEVISION – OTHER PARTNERS FOR YOUNG DOCUMENTARY FILM

15.30 - 16-30
Screening „Cat’s Cradle“ von by Filipa Jardim Reis/João Miller Guerra, PT 2011, 50 min

16.30 - 17.00
BREAK

17.00 - 18.00
PRESENTATION
Film production by order of local government — the example of SETUBAL (Lissabon)
Filipa Jardim Reis / João Miller Guerra, production company Vende-Sefilmes

18.00 - 19.30
REPORTS OF PROJECTS
Foreign cultural activities of the Goethe Institutes — Projects about documentary film for children and young people

The film initiative KID DOK
Petra van Dongen, kidsffest Jakarta
Bettina Braun, filmmaker and project mentor

Crisis generation, Goethe-Institut Barcelona
Unfamiliar life, Goethe-Institut Athens
Vera Schöpfer, Screenagers

„I got it!“
Educational television for children
Marina May, the Goethe Institute, head office Munich

20.00 - 22.00
WDR-RECEPTION
Funkhaus Köln, 6th floor, Wallraffplatz
Welcoming address by Matthias Kremin, head of culture and science, WDR television

Chair of the day: Petra Schmitz, dfi

Part IV: FILM EDUCATION AS A PERSPECTIVE

10.00 - 11.30
PANEL
Is film education the new market? — Distribution of documentary films for young target audiences
Panel with
Reinhold Schöffel, German Federation of Film Clubs for children and young people
Rui Pereira, Zero em Comportamento – cultural association
Felix Vanginderhuysen, Jekino Distribution
Albert Klein Haneveld, production company hollandse Helden
Chair: Holger Twele, film journalist

11.30 - 12.00
DISCUSSION
What kind of films do we want to watch?
Discussion with the Cologne editorial team of spinxx.de — the online magazine for young media critics
Chair: Isabel Hecker

12.00 - 12.30
BREAK

12.30 - 13.00
BY WAY OF CONCLUSION
A résumé and further questions
Marcus Seibert, Scriptwriter

13.15
END OF THE SYMPOSIUM

13.30 - 14.00
GUIDED TOURS OF COLOGNE ON OFFER
Cologne cathedral: concise guided tour
or
The Ludwig Museum: Guided tour through the exhibition “Documentary Photography around 1979”
Registration till Mon 1st Sep. 2014

Astrid Beyer

studied German, English and American literature in Tübingen and the USA. She has worked as a freelance journalist and exhibition designer since 1993 and developed television programmes for ntv, Deutsche Welle and SWR as well as corporate image films for IBM and Deutsche Telekom. She was involved in setting up the Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland in Bonn and designed the media concept for the Donauschwäbisches Zentralmuseum in Ulm.
In 2007 Astrid Beyer curated a touring exhibition on the history of film production in the state of Baden-Württemberg entitled “100 Jahre Filmland Baden-Württemberg”. She has worked for the Haus des Dokumentarfilms since 2008. She has also curated, among others, DOKVILLE, the industry get-together for documentary film. 

Bettina Braun

studied in London (Central St. Martins College of Art & Design) and Cologne (Academy of Media Arts). She has been a director and lecturer since 1997.
Her films have been awarded various prizes, most recently the Grimme-Preis Spezial in 2013 for the documentary trilogy and long-term observational study: “Was lebst du?”, “Was du willst” “Wo stehst du?” about young people in Cologne from immigrant families.
In 2003 she was a founding member of LaDOC, documentary film-women’s-network, Cologne.

Melanie de Langen

has a Master of Arts in Film- and Television studies and a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre-, Film- and Television studies. Since 2011 she is coordinator/editor at VPRO Youth Department, Hilversum: Creation and coordination of an interactive cultural platform for youth documentaries. From 2009 to 2012 she was editor/researcher at VPRO Documentary & History Department, Hilversum: Research and editorial work for television programs and online communities.
2013 – 2014: Workshopleader at Festival Classique, The Hague.
2013: Moderator at IDFA, Amsterdam.

Andrea Ernst

has been the vice head of the programme department “Ethics and Education” since 2008 and head of the editorial office for “Ethics” with a great passion for investigative documentation, including films for “Das Erste” (ARD), reports for WDR television, and focal programmes and platforms for “Planet Wissen” and “Planet Schule.”
Andrea Ernst began to work as a journalist in various media and as a freelance writer for the Austrian ORF while still studying social sciences at the University of Vienna. She has published a multitude of books and has concentrated on cultural and societal topics in WDR television since 1997.
Between 2004 and 2008 she was responsible for international co-productions in the ARTE editorial office of WDR television, where she focused editorial support on documentary film. Numerous TV and cinema productions were made and have received multiple awards, including the Bavarian Film Award, Grimme-Preis, Medienpreis der Deutschen Umwelthilfe, the Prix Italia and many more.       
Andrea Ernst also works as a lecturer and her particular interest is the convergence of content in media as well as innovative narrative forms in television. She publishes and has been intensively engaged in young people’s documentary film since 2009.

Phillis Fermer

has worked as a television journalist since 1995, then as a filmmaker in the area of documentation. She has written and directed over forty documentations, reports and portraits. Her films, in which she often tackles social and societal issues, have been shown at numerous festivals around the world and have repeatedly won awards. Her documentary “Pamela – Mein Leben ohne Vater” - a collaboration with cameraman and cutter Florian Lippke - was, among others, nominated for the Grimme Preis. She has also worked for many years as a media trainer, involved in the setting up of children’s television in east Africa. This came about after she made films for Welthungerhilfe to be used in school lessons about development projects in Africa.
After producing numerous children’s documentaries for the European Broadcasting Union (EBU/Eurovision), Phillis Fermer is now responsible for the international Children’s Documentary Exchange as its executive producer.
A small selection of her films:
“Pamela – Mein Leben ohne Vater” (ZDF/EBU)
“Jessica – Ausflüge gibt’s nicht” (ZDF)
“Lotte – ein Herz für Obdachlose” (ZDF/EBU)
“Lernen bis zum Umfallen - Großer Druck auf kleine Menschen” (WDR)
“Buenos Dias, Zwillinge! – Kai fand auf Kuba die Liebe” (WDR)
“Ich geh’ doch nicht putzen – Hauptschüler suchen einen Job” (WDR) 

Stefanie Fischer

studied Film, Television, English and Communication Psychology at the University of Bochum. After that she worked as a freelancer for WDR and for the audiovisual production at the University of Hagen for several years. Since 2002 she is part of the editorial team of the Educational Department WDR (Westdeutscher Rundfunk) and commissions TV and online projects for "Planet School – the interactive gateway for students and teachers" (Planet Schule). Since 2009 she is in charge of the foreign language programmes. But she also commissions programmes from the field of Media, Society or Nature

Dr. Frauke Gerlach

has been the managing director of the Grimme Institute in Marl since 2014.
She studied law in Kiel and Göttingen, graduating on the topic “[Media Governance] Modern Statehood in Era of the Internet - From inter-state broadcasting treaty to media policy negotiation system” (November 2010).
From 1998 until April 2014 she was legal counsel of the state parliament faction Bündnis 90/Die Grünen in North Rhine-Westphalia.
From 2001 until March 2014 she was a member, and since 2005 chair, of the broadcasting commission/media commission of the regional Landesanstalt für Rundfunk/Medien (LfM), North Rhine-Westphalia.
In addition she was chair of the association (2005 to 2008) and chair of the board of trustees (2008 to March 2014) of the Médaille Charlemagne pour les Médias Européens and chair of the supervisory board of the Grimme Institute Marl (2011 to March 2014),
Member (January 2007 to 2014) and chair (2010 to March 2014) of the supervisory board of the Filmstiftung NRW GmbH and member of the supervisory board of LfM-Nova GmbH (January 2006 to July 2013).

Anne Sofie Hansen-Skovmoes

is producer at Copenhagen Bombay, a production company that focuses on creating inspiring and intelligent content with a strong storytelling. In 2012 she enrolled the online diary documentary project “doxwise“ in the 5 Nordic countries, and most recently produced the documentary “Songs for Alexis” (2014).
She holds a Master in Communication and International Development and she has lived, studied and travelled in Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America and North America.
Her professional portfolio also includes the projects “Doctors Without Borders” and “Save the Children Youth”, where she worked as communication consultant. While Anne Sofie was project manager at the research centre on communication for development called “Ørecomm – Centre for Communication and Glocal Change” she wrote and edited the book “Speaking Up and Talking Back? Media Empowerment and Civic Engagement among East and Southern African Youth” (2013) on the subject communication, media, civic engagement and social change.
Moreover she has been teaching at Roskilde University, Denmark. Currently she is working on several film projects and cultural projects with a social perspective, amongst this “doxwise global”.

Isabel Hecker

studied Theatre- and Media studies, Sociology and Psychology at the University of Cologne. Since her graduation in 2004 and a traineeship at the music publishing department of WDR mediagroup she has been working as an author and reporter for various editorial departments in the WDR (‘KIRAKA’ WDR-Kinderradio, Quarks & Co, WDR 5 "Lebensart"). From 2006 on, Isabel is a moderator of the ARD science show ‘Kopfball’. Furthermore, she presents the youth concerts ‘PlanM@Philharmonie’ of the WDR orchestras at the Cologne Philharmonic Hall.

Birgit Keller-Reddemann

is head of editorial office for education, WDR television.
She studied political science, journalism and history at the University of Münster and completed a traineeship at the Westdeutschen Allgemeinen Zeitung (WAZ) in Essen. She has been an editor at WDR since 1992, first with “Lokalzeit Dortmund” and later in the education team. She is editorially responsible for the television programmes “Planet Wissen” and “Planet Schule.”

Albert Klein Haneveld

studied Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam (1989 -1994) and is founder of the Dutch production company Hollandse Helden (Dutch Heroes). Hollandse Helden is specialized in documentaries, children's television and internet TV. “We portray people who struggle to get most out of life. We hope our films and programs will inspire people around the world to look for new ways to achieve their goals and realize a better future.”
Recent programs and documentary titles:
“Stefpacking” (2012); Travel program for children, VPRO Youth; 10 episodes; Director: Stef Biemans
“Sounds for Mazin” (2012); Short Documentary Kids & Docs; Director: Ingrid Kamerling;
Award: Media Fund Price Kids & Docs 2012
“Through the Ears of Ellen”(2011); Short documentary for NCRV Document junior; Director: Saskia Gubbels;
Awards: Ozu International Short Film Festival, Italy, Overall prize: Best Film, November 2012; Barcelona International Audiovisual Festival, Special mention to the Humanitarian Prize, November 2012; Chicago International Children's Film Fest, 1st Prize Adult Jury, Best Documentary Short Film and 2nd Children's Jury Prize, Best Documentary Film, November 2012; Uppsala International Short Film Festival, Honorary mention, October 2012: Buster Copenhagen International Film Festival, Best Documentary Short, September 2012

Katya Mader

studied English literature, classical archaeology, cultural anthropology and European ethnology in Frankfurt am Main and London (MA). She then worked freelance on film productions and in public television.
Katya Mader has worked as an editor in the ZDF/3sat film team since 2001, where she supervises, in particular, feature-length documentary film (co-)productions as well as the documentary film series “Ab 18!”

Meike Martens

her company “Blinker Filmproduktion GmbH” makes films - documentary, hybrid, fictional - in international co-productions and in various production constellations, also within Germany. “Blinkerfilm” was founded in Cologne in 2007 by Meike Martens with Heino Deckert (ma.ja.de Filmproduktion, Leipzig) as partner.
She is involved in the pilot project for creative documentary films for children and young people “dokyou” as a producer and project manager.
Meike Martens works as a mentor for, among others, Berlinale Talents, as well as in selection commissions and juries, for example for the Deutscher Kurzfilmpreis.

Marina May

has a degree in film sciences, journalism and business administration from the University of Mainz and the Université Paris XII and is currently completing her PhD on contemporary costume drama.
From 2008 to 2011 she worked in the programming division of the Goethe Institute in Hanoi and was responsible for its film programme. Alongside the documentary film studio “DocLab” and the International Documentary Film Week, she also started the German Film Festival in 2010, which reserves a section for children’s and young people’s film.
Marina May has been project manager on culture and development at the Goethe Institute headquarters since the beginning of 2012.

João Miller Guerra / Filipa Jardim Reis

João studied Industrial Design and completed his studies in Fine Arts.
Filipa graduated in Business Management and Administration and completed her studies with a post-graduate in Cinema and Television. She is currently in the final year of a Master’s Degree in Cinema.
In 2008, Filipa founded Vende-se Filmes production company where, in collaboration with João Miller Guerra, developed cinema projects and television programs.
In 2010, they co-directed the documentary “Li Ké Terra” alongside Nuno Baptista. The film was distinguished with the Award for Best Portuguese Film and the Schools Award at DocLisboa 2010, having also received an honorable mention at MiradasDoc, in Spain.
In 2011, they directed the documentary “Generation Orchestra” and the short film “Nada Fazi”. “Generation Orchestra” was selected for several festivals throughout Europe and was included in the National Film Plan for Schools in 2012. “Nada Fazi” won the Portuguese Film Award at Fantasporto 2012 and the Audience Award at Festival Córtex 2012.
In 2012, Filipa and João directed “Cat’s Cradle” and “Bela Vista”. “Cat's Cradle” won the Award for Best Portuguese Short Film at IndieLisboa Film Festival 2012 and the Promising Award at the Festival Luso-Brasileiro de Santa Maria da Feira 2012. The film also attended IDFA, Festival dei Popoli in Italy; João Forumdoc.BH in Brazil; Black Movie Film Festival in Switzerland; Bordocs, in Mexico; Festival Internacional de Curitiba, Brazil; doxs!, in Germany; Festroia, in Portugal, and Festival Traces de Vies, in France. The documentary “Bela Vista” won the Best International Short Film Prize at FIDOCS and a Special Mention at MiradasDoc 2013, in Spain.
In 2013, Filipa and João directed the short film “Fragments of a Participant Observation”, which was selected for IndieLisboa Film Festival 2013 in National Competition and New Cinema sections. This film was also present at the Short Film Corner in Cannes Festival 2013 and at the Festival de Cinema Luso-Brasileiro de Santa Maria da Feira, Portugal.
In the beginning of 2014 their new documentary “The Indispensable Practice of Vagueness” was finished together with Tomás Baltazar.

Calle Overweg

began various career paths after school; in agriculture, law, banking, and finally 3 years as a puppeteer. He studied at the DFFB, Berlin from 1989 to 1995, including a stay at the “Film Directors and Scriptwriters Higher Courses” in Moscow in 1993. He now lives in Berlin.
Filmography (selection):

“Fünf Moskauer Musikanten”, D 1993/94, doc, 43 min., DFFB, 16mm colour. Simple people live through perestroika.

“Grünschnäbel”, D 1996/97, doc, 102 min., DFFB/ZDF, 16 mm colour. Seven children who already know what they want to be. Awarded best German film school graduation film.

“Tumber Narr – Heiliger Tor”, D 1999, doc/feature, 67 min., ZDF/3sat. Theatre with mentally and physically handicapped actors. Nominated for the Grimme-Preis 2000.

“Das Problem ist meine Frau”, D 2003, 52 min., MMM-Filmproduktion/NDR. Staged conversations with perpetrators of domestic violence. Best German documentary film 2003 (3sat).

“Die Villa”, D 2004, documentary series, 3 x 28:30 min., WDR. For viewers between 10 and 100, about a children’s home in East Berlin.

“Grünschnäbel. Träume leben weiter”, D 2007, doc, 88 min., ZDF. Long-term observation of the protagonists from “Grünschnäbel”.
“Da kann noch viel passieren”, D 2008, doc, 88 min., BKM/WDR. One year in a Berlin secondary school class, for viewers between 10 and 100.

“Beziehungsweisen”, D 2011, acted documentary film, 85 min., ZDF/3sat. 3 couples fight for their love.

“Mein Traum”, D 2012, series 4 x 6 min. for “Die Sendung mit der Maus,” mixture of documentary film and animation about 5 fifth graders and their dreams.

In addition, numerous portraits of children for “Die Sendung mit der Maus,” including a series on world religions.
 

Anna Pedroli

has been working for the Dutch Cultural Media Fund for over 10 years. As a staff member she has been involved in the various activities in the area of quality improvement and talent development, like workshops for documentary filmmakers - e.g. the Kids & Docs workshop (childrens' documentaries). Also she has organized conferences, debates and expert meetings for the fund about television drama, experimental documentaries and media in general. Before Anna has worked for the International Documentary Film Festival, for an independent documentary production company and for an Amsterdam based radio station.

Rui Pereira

has a degree in Management, a course in Arts Management by the Portuguese Ministry of Culture, and another one in History and Aesthetics of Film.
Since 1998 he has been a film programmer for several institutions, including the “Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation” and several art house cinemas. He was head of acquisitions for Atalanta Filmes 2004 - 2005.
He has been a jury member in several film festivals, like the Seville International Film Festival or Karlovy Vary’s Forum of Independents section. He was also a jury member for the first “Lux Award” by the European Parliament.
Between 2003 and 2012 he was one of the directors, general manager and programmer of Indielisboa – Lisbon International Independent Film Festival.
Since 2013 he has changed his focus to children and youngsters. He is now developing an educational approach to cinema, aiming to raise film’s literacy level of those age groups. He develops educational content related with cinema to help parents and teachers in their work with children, youngsters and teenagers. This is a clear innovation in Portugal as in the country only the Hollywood animated films are commercially released and there are no live action film releases for children.

Christian Popp

is producer and film consultant. He was born in 1971 in Romania. He has studied History and Arts and has since 1991 worked as a journalist and film director. From 1997 to 2005 he was a commissioning editor for ARTE in Strasbourg and Berlin. He became an independent producer in 2005 first for the German-French company interscience film. In 2011 he established in Paris together with Fabrice Estève his own company YUZU Productions. He is also a shareholder of the Berlin based company DOCDAYS Productions. Christian is mentoring and moderating at various documentary events (Thessaloniki Documentary Forum, DocLisboa, Vision du Réel, i_doc, Doc Ouest, IDFA Academy, Diagonale, Sunny Side of the Docs).

Aycha Riffi

studied Theatre, Film and Television studies and German literature at the Ruhr University in Bochum. After an internship at ZDF/Das kleine Fernsehspiel, she gathered editorial and journalistic experience at WDR, SDR and DSF. She joined the Grimme Institute as a freelancer in 2002 and has run the Grimme Academy since 2010.
Aycha Riffi also works for film festivals (incl. Duisburger Filmwoche, International Women’s Film Festival Dortmund I Cologne, Vision Kino), hosting the children’s cinema sections and as a member of the board of trustees for doxs!, the documentary films section for children and young people of the Duisburger Filmwoche. Her publications include educational accompanying material for fictional and documentary films.

Bernd Sahling

worked as the directing assistant on children’s films by H. Dziuba, R. Losansky and H. Unterberg from 1984 to 1986. He studied at the HFF Babelsberg from 1986 to 1991, leaving with a degree in film and television directing.
He has worked as a freelance author/director since 1991 and has held workshops on film work with children in Singapore, USA, Germany, Italy, Norway, Slovakia, France, Russia and Tajikistan. He has been a jury member of the Berlinale, Schlingel Chemnitz, Lucas Frankfurt and of festivals in Munich, Cairo, Moscow, Pyrgos, Bratislava and Zlín as well as working on the selection commission for Berlinale and Goldener Spatz. He has been a lecturer at the University of Duisburg-Essen since 2009.
Films as author/director (selection):
“Lied für Anne” D 1985, 5 min., 35 mm, DEFA.

“Wenn man so leben will wie ich” D 1987, 23 min., 16mm, HFF.

“Alles wird gut” D 1990, 79 min., 16mm, ZDF/Eikon/HFF.

"Im Nest der Katze” D 1991, 45 min., Beta, ZDF.

“Gymnasium oder wir werden sehen” D 1999, 96 min., Beta, ZDF.

“Blindgänger” D 2004, 89 min., 35mm, Kinderfilm GmbH/ZDF, directing and script with co-author Helmut Dziuba.

“It Ain’t Just You” D 2006, 30 min., Mini DV, documentary film with young people from the North Cape in Norway.

“Ednas Tag” D 2009, 20 min., HDV, documentary film, Blinkerfilm/WDR.

“Feuer und Flamme” (20xBrandenburg) D 2010, 20 min., HD, Dokfilm GmbH/rbb, 

“Kopfüber” D 2012, 90 min., 35mm, Neue Mediopolis Filmproduktion GmbH / ARRI Film and TV GmbH / Steelecht GmbH.

“hin&weg” D 2013, 26 min., HD, Blinkerfilm.
Prizes include Deutscher Filmpreis in Gold 2004, special mentions at the Berlinale Kinderfilmfest and Cinekid Amsterdam, 1st prize at Chicago International Children’s Film Festival, nomination for the European Film Academy Young Audience Award 2013, UNICEF prize from the children’s jury in Vienna 2013, ECFA award, Pyrgos 2013, for Best European Film.

Petra L. Schmitz

has run the dfi - documentary film initiative in Filmbüro NW (Cologne) since 1999 and previously worked on the subject of the history of media in the Federal Republic and the GDR, as well as in two projects on the representation of the European unification process in the media, at the Grimme Institute (Marl). In 2001 she designed and edited a CD-ROM on the history of television and media in Germany in collaboration with the Grimme Institute.
At the dfi she has led symposiums and workshops on the situation of documentary films in Germany and on the praxis of documentary work. She also edits the dfi book series “Texte zum Dokumentarfilm,” which thus far comprises 17 volumes. 
In 2001 she organized the first European Symposium on “Documentary films for children” in collaboration with the most important institutions in documentary and children’s film. In 2007 she initiated, together with doxs!, the production and reception initiative “dokyou”.

Reinhold T. Schöffel

helds a diploma in media literacy, lives in Frankfurt/Main (Germany). He has been working since 1980 in various projects that help to bring high quality films to a wider audience: as organizer of film programs and festivals, as a journalist and distributor. Since 1990 Reinhold Schoeffel is managing director of Bundesverband Jugend und Film e.V. (BJF), the German federation of film clubs for children and young people (www.BJF.info). BJF is running a non-theatrical distribution with more than 500 outstanding films for children and young people and publishes art-house-DVDs for the same target group under the label "Durchblick-Filme" (www.durchblick-filme.de). Since the year 2000 he has been editor of ECFA’s website www.ecfaweb.org. During the years 2000 until 2008 he was also editor of ECFA-Journal, the member’s newsletter of the European Children’s Film Association. In February 2010 Reinhold Schoeffel has been elected as a board member of ECFA.

Vera Schöpfer

studied film directing at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne and graduated in 2005 with the short film “Schwarze Maria.” Alongside her own creative work, she has since developed, together with Dieter Bongartz, concepts for documentary film workshops for young people as well as founding the creative network “Screenagers” in 2011: “Screenagers” organizes - in collaboration with professional filmmakers, artists, schools, and cultural institutions - film projects with a focus on documentary work, often with an international perspective. Films from these projects have won important young people’s film prizes and are regularly shown at international festivals.
In the summer of 2014 Vera Schöpfer took over the running of the European youth academy for documentary film “Young Dogs.” Stationed at the “U2_kulturelle Bildung im Dortmunder U,” “Young Dogs” sees itself as a centre of international collaboration and creativity for youths and young grown-ups interested in journalism and film and will consolidate the project-related work of “Screenagers.” Vera Schöpfer lives with her family in Cologne.

Marcus Seibert

born in Aachen in 1964. Scriptwriter and translator. Studied philosophy, art history and German literature in Aachen, Cologne and Paris.
Scripts (selection):
diverse scripts for series, incl. 50 episodes of “Lindenstraße”.
“15 Meter” (short film, Erkan Gündüz, 2009).
“Kalte Tage” (with Sebastian Ko, 2011).
Author of various children’s television series in the 1990s incl. “Käpt'n Blaubär,” “Rudi der Rabe,” and “Tiger und Toni.”
Various print publications, incl. translations of Eric Rohmer.
Currently working on various film projects, stories and as co-editor of the film magazine “Revolver.”

Anna Sienkiewicz-Rogowska

Head of the Department of Education and Dissemination of Film Culture, The Polish Film Institute.
She is a graduate of the Kozminski University in Warsaw and of the Management Department at Cracow’s University of Economics, Anna has worked in banking, in the sector of capital operations, and as a marketing expert.
As a cultural events organiser, she has participated in the preparation, promotion and organisation of many cultural events, including the Impressionist Exhibition "From Manet to Gauguin", as well as the “Transalpinum”- exhibition at the National Museum. She has also played an important role in organizing many special events for various commercial entities. Between 2001 and 2005 Anna was the producer of the Film and Art Festival “Film Summer”, and has also co-operated in the production of documentary films. She gives lectures at Warsaw University on management in the culture sector.
Since 2008 she is head of the Department of Education and Dissemination of Film Culture at the Polish Film Institute. She supervises the implementation of educational programmes, such as the “School Filmotheque” addressing secondary schools and the “Polish Film Academy” addressing university students. She is responsible for the system of subsidies for film schools and other institutions conducting film education programs. She is also responsible for projects connected with the development of cinematic activities, including the improvement of infrastructure and digitisation, and for co-operation in the implementation of the national digitisation strategy for the audiovisual archives. She manages a team dealing with the national promotion of Polish cinematography, art house cinemas and film clubs.

Gudrun Sommer

is director of the film festival doxs! (documentary films for children and young people: www.do-xs.de) in Duisburg. She also works as a curator and programme advisor on behalf of the Goethe Institute, Diagonale film festival and the steirischen herbst festival in Graz. Her work focuses on documentary film, children’s film and film mediation/media education.
Within the framework of doxs! she has initiated, among others, the international children’s documentary film project “KidDok”, the projects “dokyou” and “doku.klasse”.
She teaches at the University of Duisburg-Essen, at the Ruhr University Bochum and also works as an assessor for the FSK in Wiesbaden and has been a juror for the Grimme Institute’s Sonderpreis Kultur des Landes NRW since 2012.
Various publications, most recently: “doxs! do it: Dokumentarfilme für Kinder und Jugendliche” in: Braune-Krickau/Ellinger/Sperzel (eds.): Handbuch Kulturpädagogik für benachteiligte Jugendliche (Beltz: Landsberg, 2013), sowie Sommer/Hediger/Fahle (eds.): Orte filmischen Wissens. Filmkultur und Filmvermittlung im Zeitalter digitaler Netzwerke, (Schüren: Marburg, 2011).

Agata Sotomska

since 2008 she has been managing film education projects at the Polish Film Institute. She successfully coordinated the launch of 3 national projects: the biggest film education program in Poland "Filmoteka Szkolna" (2009), the Coalition for Film Education (2011) and the social campaign "Skrytykuj" aimed at gaining critical understanding of film among youth (2013). She leads workshops for teachers and pupils on various topics related to film education. Over the last years she has carried out several culture and education events including five editions of "Filmoteka Szkolna Festival" each of which gathered 200 participants from across Poland and national conferences for teachers. She was a member of national reaserchers' team for EU Film Literacy Study co-ordinated by BFI. Prior to joining the Polish Film Institute, she worked in the arts sector developing various cultural events.
 

Meike Statema

after finishing Film and Television Studies, Meike Statema started working for the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) in 1998.
Since 2002 she is coordinating all the educational projects during the festival and throughout the year. She is the programmer of IDFA’s children’s documentaries section “Kids & Docs”, the program for youngsters: DOC U in the festival and responsible for the school program which reaches over 12.000 young people a year. Other activities are included in the IDFAcademy section: a training program for emerging documentary talent. This includes a three day event during IDFA, the Summer School where international documentary talents are working on their own project and two extended workshops for Dutch film makers.

Holger Twele

has been working freelance as a film publicist and educator after studying literature and theatre, psychology and philosophy (MA, 1980). After practical experience in almost all areas of municipal film work, he then worked freelance for over 20 years as film consultant and editor for the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung. In his specialised field of children’s and young people’s film he has worked for many years for the Bundesverband Jugend und Film e.V., the Kinder- und Jugendfilmzentrum in Deutschland, the Kinder und Jugendfilm Korrespondenz (incl. editor of the online version) as well as for other institutions and websites.
He has also written numerous articles and educational accompanying material and has extensive experience as a jury member for national and international festivals. He has worked on the jury of the Filmtheater-Programmpreis Rheinland-Pfalz since 2009.

Petra van Dongen

is a freelance translator, film producer, programmer and event organizer based in Amsterdam specialized in fund raising and programming for film projects, workshops and festivals. She is one of the founders of “CinemAsia”, the Asian Film Festival of the Netherlands and project manager of the international film festival “World Cinema Amsterdam”.
Since 2008, Petra works for Kalyana Shira Foundation in Jakarta, in charge of the programming of Indonesia's international children's film festival and the production of children's documentaries. In 2012 Petra started Project “KidDok” to produce short documentary films for children in Indonesia in collaboration with Duisburger Filmwoche/doxs! and the Goethe Institute. The film productions are: “Farewell My School”, “Chocolate Comedy” and “Grady the Healer”.

Felix Vanginderhuysen

helds a University degree in Social Sciences at the University of Louvain, Belgium.
He is Managing director of Jekino (since 1978); Jekino has two departments: Jekino Distribution and Jekino Education.
In 1988 he has been one of the driving forces behind the creation of the European Children’s Film Association (ECFA); from this start until now, he is volunteering as the general secretary of the association.
In 1989 (starting year of the European Film Prize) he founded the European Youth Film Festival of Flanders in Antwerp and is at the moment still president of the only children’s film festival in Europe with exclusively European films on the programme.
Since 2003 he also is president of the school screening circuit “Lessen in het Donker”. In 2007 winner of the “Culture Prize Film” of the Flemish Ministry of Culture.
Jekino Distribution is a company specialized in quality films for children and youngsters. Yearly about 10 films, most of them European productions, are released. Every release goes the classic way: cinema, DVD, VoD, TV.
Jekino Education is specialized in film education. A wide range of study guides, workshops, film making projects … are offered for all age groups.

Janna Velber

founded the production company Boogiefilm with Kristina Löbbert in 2009. Boogiefilm produces national and international feature and documentary films.
Alongside “Romeos” - Sabine Bernardi’s feature debut, which celebrated its premiere in the Panorama section of Berlinale 2011 and has been shown at 70 international festivals to date, incl. Montreal, Paris and Seattle - Boogiefilm has developed, in collaboration with the WDR, the young people’s documentary film series “dokmal” which has produced, with the cooperation of the KHM in Cologne, 3 to 4 documentary films annually since 2010. In 2010 Boogiefilm, together with Meike Martens from Blinkerfilm, took over the running of “dokyou,” a state (NRW) sponsored project for the improvement of documentary films for children and young people.
Janna Velber has been the sole managing director of Boogiefilm since September 2012. Several documentary and feature films are currently planned. The film “Dessau Dancers,” based on an idea by Janna Velber and Jan-Martin Scharf, was completed in June and celebrated its premiere in July 2014 at Filmfest München.

Delia West

20, student from Duisburg, participant in the "doku.klasse". "It all began at Steinbart Gymnasium in Duisburg. My teacher told me about doxs and asked whether I would be interested in working on the youth jury. Since then the Duisburger Filmwoche, the GROSSEN KLAPPE award and doxs in particular have become regular parts of my winter calendar.
All of my involvement has made my interest in the media and in working with it even greater and reinforces my intentions to study in this area.
So hopefully I can look forward to a media-rich future and I eagerly anticipate taking part in doku.klasse and being here in Cologne."

Nadine Zwick

has been an editor at ARTE for 20 years and is now responsible for ARTE Junior.
In 1994 Alex Taylor, with whom she had made the daily programme “Kontinental” at France 3, asked her to accompany him on the adventure of a very young European cultural broadcaster.
From 1994 to 1996 she was responsible for the creation of the French version of “Confetti,” the daily magazine that dealt with the everyday life of the European.
In 1996 she switched to the documentary film department, where she was entrusted with supervising documentary films on society. At the time, this was a weekly appointment with the viewer in the second part of the evening programme, called “La vie en Face / Welt im Blick.”
Since January 2013 she has been the editor responsible for ARTE junior, the 2-hour Sunday slot for the age group 8 to 12 years old. At the beginning, editorial guidelines had to be formulated for documentary films for young viewers, which are much more seldom in the French film and television landscape than in Germany or Scandinavia. “We have been trying for 18 months to develop new narrative forms, together with the producers and directors, which are capable of captivating children for whom the television screen is no longer necessarily the favourite screen.”

In the preparation of the European Symposium "Documentaries for young audiences" Stefanie Görtz spoke to with the invited filmmakers and speakers. We will publish these interviews successive here. First, a conversation with filmmaker Bernd Sahling appeared, followed by an interview with Maria Dickmeis and Andrea Ernst, WDR. After that we published an interview with Melanie de Langen, VPRO, one with Meike Statema, IDFA International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam, one with Gudrun Sommer, Head of the film festival doxs! documentary films for children and young people, one with Katya Mader, film editorial team ZDF/3sat, one with Anna Pedroli, Dutch Cultural Media Fund, one with Filipa Jardim Reis / Joao Miller Guerra, Production company Vende-Sefilmes and one with Anne Sofie Hansen-Skovmoes, Production company Copenhagen Bombay. Agata Sotomska from the Polish Film Institute presented at the symposium a grand coalition for film education. And last two interviews about film distribution in the educational context from Rui Pereira and Felix Vanginderhuysen.

"The main action is not the emphasize on ‚the documentary film’, but to announce and distribute it as a ‚quality film for children’. "

A few questions to Felix Vanginderhuysen | Jekino Distribution

Could you please describe the business of Jekino, what are you specialised in?

Jekino is a non profit organization comprising a distribution department as well as an education one. Within the distribution we are specialized in quality films for children and youngsters. We release theatrically about 8 to 10 films every year but also cover afterwards Video-on-Demand, DVD sales and TV sales.
Within the education department we offer film education programs of all kinds and sizes.

What is the situation for documentaries for young audiences like in Belgium?

I think this is more or less non existing. There is a specialized distributor for documentaries who tries to enter the market, as well theatrically as on DVD. But within their catalogue also the films for children or young audiences are very few. You can see their complete catalogue at www.daltondistribution.be .
Also on TV (as well public as commercial) I don’t see many documentaries (beside the common known geographic ones).

What are your experiences with the distribution and dissemination of documentaries (especially regarding length and content) until now?

As we were until now mostly focused on full length feature films for children, we don’t have any experience with the distribution of documentaries. But now we have acquired the distribution rights for two documentaries (“Dancing in Jaffa” and “I’m Thai”). The first one is targeting on the age group up 10, the second one is meant for pre-schoolers. Personally we are delighted about those two productions and we will do all the possible efforts to get these to the audiences, but for the moment I cannot predict the final results.

What are your experiences with retailers, film education, students, and pupils?

For certain we will use the two mentioned titles for schools and film education because I think that most of the opportunities are in this field, but also here it’s just crossing fingers and hope that we will succeed. There are not yet any results known.

What would you suggest to improve the status of documentary films in the distribution field?

I suppose the main action is not the emphasize on “the documentary film”, but to announce and distribute it as a “quality film for children”.

"Persistence and resilience are real important characteristics one should have, because we’re competing with a very powerful marketing machine "

A few questions to Rui Pereira | Zero em Compartamento, Cultural Association

Could you please describe the business of the cultural association Zero em Comportamento, what are you specialised in?

Zero em Comportamento is focused on the distribution and exhibition of cinema for children and teenagers. We work both with shorts and with features, either with documentaries or with fictions. We organize thematic programmes of shorts for the youngest accordingly to the subjects given at each scholar grade. To the oldest ones, we show features, also subordinated to themes they study.

What are your experiences with the distribution and dissemination of documentaries (especially regarding length and content) until now?

As said before, we provide the right content for each grade. And adjust the length of the films to the age we are working with. Because of the language issue we’ve been obliged to avoid showing documentaries to the youngest. We don’t dub films so we subtitle them. This means that we can only show subtitled films to kids who can already read subtitles. Typically this means teenagers. The most important thing we’ve learnt is that kids have little understanding of what means a film. They’re so used to television content that they forget that a film is always the result of someone’s will. This means that they take everything that is shown in the film as if it is for real. With documentaries this gap is of course much smaller.

What are your experiences with retailers, film education, students, and pupils?

I divide the experience in two:
The critics are really overdemanding with the films that are released. They expect each released film to be a masterpiece and they evaluate the films according to that. But they have a very narrow perspective of their work forgetting that most of their readers are not educated enough to understand their references. On the other hand, we have these other “critics” who are only interested in the Hollywood star-system so they overlook everything else.
The other side of my experience is the one with everyone that we’re able to convince to go to the cinemas or to book the films to show it to their students, etc.
Usually these people really enjoy the films we show them because they are surprised with the fact that they can use the films as a starting point to discuss specific and important issues.
Therefore, we can only be confident that we’re growing our audience little by little and we know that we have to keep on working.

What would you suggest to improve the status of documentary films in the distribution field?

It is very difficult to give a general answer to this question as reality is different in each country, but I would say that:
Persistence and resilience are real important characteristics one should have, because we know we’re competing with a very powerful marketing machine;
Knowing that, we have to show documentaries (and other kind of films) to as many kids as possible because this is the only way we have to make them used to watching this kind of cinema;
But we have to adjust the kind of documentaries we show to each age group because we can’t expect them to be interested by very important and classic documentaries (in a cinephile way) if they are not used to watch that and if the subject is not interesting to them.
In resume, I’d say that kids need to become used to watching documentaries as a genre since a real young age, but they need to be provided with interesting issues and the level of difficulty has to be progressively harder.
There’s no point in trying to “fight” the mainstream/Hollywood films with the same weapons because not only we don’t have the same resources but also because kids are just not used to watch it so they will not want to watch documentaries just because it is documentaries.

"Of course there would be no success without competent teachers, who understand why film education is so important these days"

A few questions to Anna Sienkiewicz-Rogowska and Agata Sotomska | Polish Film Institute

Your platform Filmoteka Szkolna is based on a coalition for film education. How come that you developed such a platform with the aim of building up a huge infrastructure during the last 5 years?

At first there was a DVD box of 55 Polish films that were sent free of charge to all middle and secondary schools in Poland together with lesson plans and film analyses. We believed that it would be enough to start a common film education process at schools. Of course we were wrong. It turned out that there is nothing like methodology of film education at teacher faculties at universities so teachers don’t really know how to use films within lessons. That was when we invited the Center for Citizenship Education and Warsaw Film School to cooperate with us to train teachers. There is no education departement in the Polish Film Institute so the number of people working on Filmoteka Szkolna is very limited. We knew that if we want to have a comprehensive film education system in Poland we are not able to do that on our own. The coalition for film education was a natural next step. The activities run by the institutions affiliated to the coalition complement each other, we also share newsletters. So now the reach of film education projects in much wider.

And in the meantime we decided to expand the number of films available for schools. As teachers were complaining about the lack of time to watch films during regular lessons we thought of creating an online platform. This solution enables pupils to watch films as their homework at home and teachers to show only film clips at school.

Which role does the Polish Film Institute takes within this coalition? What are the tasks of the Polish Film Institute in general?

We chair the coalition for film education and we are the contact point for all those institutions that would like to join us. The Polish Film Institute also promotes projects organised by affiliated institutions and supports them financially.  The Polish Film Institute was established in 2005 to help a local film industry to regain it’s international position by supporting all stages of film production, disseminationf of film culture and promotion.

What is your position and function within the project? What different section the platform offers?

Anna Sienkiewicz-Rogowska is the head Film Culture Dissemination and Promotion department and Agata Sotomska is the coordinator of film education initiatives run in Polish Film Insitute.

Apart from being a VOD platform, the Filmoteka Szkolna-website gives teachers the opportunity to cut film clips which improves the course of lesson if they want to recall some important fragments. Pupils and teachers can also find some useful information about all activities that we or our partners organise for them. Once a year we also organise an online festival for schools. On a particular day within a couple of hours youngsters can solve all sorts of film tasks that we publish on the website, they can also participate in online chats where they discuss various film topics.

Who are the partners of Filmoteka Szkolna?

Since 2009 we’ve been working closely with Center for Citizenship Education and Warsaw Film School who deliver workshops for teachers and pupils. Over time, other institution as Fundacja Generator, New Horizons Association and Polish Filmmakers Association started collaborating with us. Cyfrowe Repozytorium Filmowe (Digital Movie Repository) is our technological partner.

Could you please explain the role documentary films and documentary forms play amongst the several sections of the platform’s content?

The idea of Filmoteka Szkolna is to place films in a wider cultural and social context and that is why they are divided into theme sets. Each set contains of two or even three films and documentaries are present in almost all of them. There are 121 films on the platform and 40 of them are documentaries so they play an important part in our programme. We believe that if we teach about documentary films and make them a starting point for discussions on the condition of human being and world in general, we will eventually educate critical and conscious people who want to understand what they watch and experience around themselves. On the other hand documentary films are not easily accessible – they are not screened at cinemas apart from film festivals and we intend to give them a second life within Filmoteka Szkolna.

How do you address young audiences, how do young audiences find the content of the platform?

Certainly it’s not an easy task to interest youngsters in Polish films, especially older ones. That’s why we run online courses aimed at pupils to make those films more comprehensible. We also organise several contests where they can write about those films or make their own short forms inspired by the titles that they find in Filmoteka Szkolna. We encourage young people to organise their own film projects or school film festivals where they can decide on the programme. Once a year we meet in Warsaw with almost 200 pupils from across Poland – that is the time when they can present what they did during the school year to famous actors, film directors, producers and film critics. Over the time we can see that it has worked. Of course there would be no success without competent teachers, who understand why film education is so important these days, who know what films they should show first and how to inspire pupils to learn more about Polish films and cinema in general.  

Could you please explicate your experiences with the platform and the feedback of the audience and especially from the education field?

It was not easy to convince film producers to let film be on our platform because of the complicated authorship law in Poland. But eventually, after a couple of years negotiations we succeeded. Teachers and pupils welcomed the new solution with gratification. Before there was one DVD for use of the whole school. Now teachers from the same school can show the same film at the same time. The only problem is that the internet connection in Polish schools is still very weak and some teachers who would love to screen films during lessons are not able to do it.

Additional question: Is it true that in connection with the infrastructure building you succeeded in starting the digitalization of all films from Polish directors? Did we get that right?

Digitalisation of Polish films started in 2010. It is true that those films that are in Filmoteka Szkolna and other educational programmes have priority over others in the process of digitalisation.

"The central factor is to be where the youth is."

A few questions to Anne Sofie Hansen-Skovmoes | Production company Copenhagen Bombay

The online diary project DOXWISE is meant to be made by young people and for the youth. How big is / was the response by your target group – as contributors and as an audience?

DOXWISE is an online documentary project, which has been tested in Denmark during two seasons in 2008 and 2009 and one season in the Nordic countries back in 2012. During 10 weeks you follow young people's lives. The youth between 18-27 years open their home and hearts and share their thoughts and feelings. With great courage and sincerity they offer a glimpse of their lives!

DOXWISE originated from a wish to let the voices and stories of the youth themselves be heard. Not as reality or give space to the selfie-generation, but to show a more honest side of the youth.

The vision for DOXWISE is to create a digital youth platform where young people can communicate on their own terms across national borders on specific problems, situations and basic challenges which concerns young peoples lifes here and now.

There has been a great interest from both the contributors and the audience – at least the ones who DOXWISE reached. The first two seasons were made back in 2008 and 2009. The first season was launched at MySpace and the second season at a Danish newspaper’s online version called Politiken. The third season in 2012 was Nordic with Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Finland and Denmark and was hosted by the media partner MSN.

How do you address and reach your target group, who supported you to expand your audience?

Having changed the platforms from season to season has had positive and negative effects as DOXWISE did not get to establish its own media platform, but was spread out over three platforms plus on Facebook and other social media. DOXWISE has reached different sub groups within the target group – and clearly also reached an older audience at the newspaper Politiken platform. In all DOXWISE has reached around a million hits.
In the wish of expanding the audience there has been made a marketing strategy for each season and country – also depending on the protagonists stories and lives – that entails the social media, interviews in TV, radio and newspapers and presentations made by the DOXWISE directors and protagonists. The central factor is to be where the youth is.

The DOXWISE-protagonists are documenting their everyday life with camera and then deliver hours of raw material to the professional team of director and editor, who then edit and upload 3-5 minute webisodes on the DOXWISE-Page. How was the communication and participation between contributors and the professional team organized?

Making DOXWISE relevant, honest and interesting takes a lot of effort from both the contributors as well as the professional team of directors, editors and producers. The cast has to feel safe and protected in order to let the world in to their lives. It’s a vulnerable process. This is why dialogue is so important. The directors follow their cast closely and they are responsible for the content uploaded on the DOXWISE platform. So the 10 weeks of production demands that the professional team is stand by all the time.

Can participation of protagonists be connected with the production and the ideas of artistic documentary?

Indeed. With this way of producing content to young people by the youth themselves you never know which directions it will go. NotHing is planned or censored. It’s impossible to predict life and thus also DOXWISE. This is the beauty of it. Having young people living their lives, exploring life and feelings and taking them new places. It’s honest and it’s real.

What does the future of DOXWISE look like?

The future DOXWISE will be global. We have a hope that the youth around the world can gather, get inspired and experience that in spite of different cultures, religions and sex they have many things in common. DOXWISE is build upon young peoples curiosity and desire to create dialogue between cultures in order to gain insight, tolerance and solidarity among young people across borders.
We hope that DOXWISE GLOBAL will come alive in the nearest future.

"They gave us total artistic freedom and never questioned our options"

A few questions to Filipa Jardim Reis / Joao Miller Guerra | Production company Vende-Sefilmes

The film “Cat’s Cradle” was produced in a film project financially supported by the City Council of Setúbal as part of their social and cultural work in this special district. When did you come into this project?

We came into this project when we won the public contest that was held to decide who would take part on this big adventure. We had been working in Setubal for a while in a different project and we had heard about this so we decided to give it a try. It was with great satisfaction that some months later we knew we had won that public contest.

Did you have a special framework to obey during this project which also influenced the film production process? Could you follow your own artistic ideas and views?

In the original contest framework proposition we were asked to make one or more films in a specific neighborhood of Setubal and to have people from that specific place involved in the process. Our proposition was to make two short fiction films, in straight collaboration with the inhabitants, and an observational documentary more about that place and the way that people lived there. That was exactly what we did. This was a major influence in the process, we had to prepare the fiction films while we were shooting the documentary. In other words we used the documentary as a strategy to get to know better the neighborhood where we would be living and working for three months. At the same time that would also gained us more confidence with the population.
We had always, at any time, during the whole process total agreement and confidence from the team with whom we worked from Setubal City Council. There was never a "no". It was this amazing relationship that brought this results. They gave us total artistic freedom and never questioned our options.

How did you find your protagonists?

We spread some posters that said "Casting" throughout the neighborhood asking for people to come and take part on one of our films. Some just told us their stories and went away but others stayed for more. We worked with them on writing and acting for our films.
After this we did some drama workshops with those who stayed.

Your film is an artistic documentary film with a decisive authorship and style. It has been screened at international film festivals. How did you manage within the framework based on partnership and participation of the people of Setubal?

Before concluding all three movies we showed them to all the participants to be sure they were ok with it. After that we presented the Setubal City Council a strategy on how we thought the films should be released, not to cannibalise each other and how they should be first released on festivals and them commercially on cinemas. Despite they had never thought about it, they accepted our proposal. It ended up working very well for both sides, us directors and producers and them, City Council.
 
Would you regard this way of financing and producing beyond film funding and film industry as a realistic way of filmproduction?

Yes, very much, but there has to be confidence and that sometimes is very difficult. It also has to exist a perfect match between what the authors want and have to say as artists and what the financing partners have as a purpose.

"It is good to see that the genre has grown so much over the past years, but it’s still a delicate niche that needs to be taken care of and nourished."

A few questions to Anna Pedroli | Dutch Cultural Media Fund

What is your task in the Mediafonds regarding the KIDS & DOCS workshop?

The Kids & Docs workshop is a project of two film festivals, IDFA and Cinekid, and the Mediafonds. We have been organizing this workshop together for 15 years now. Each organization appoints one representative and for the Mediafonds, that’s me. The three of us divide the work amongst each other, quite organically.
From my position within the fund I’m the contact person for the broadcasters. Each edition starts – apart from evaluating last year’s workshop, the results, adapting the curriculum, approaching a tutor, scouting for new talent – with an inventory of participating broadcasters. When they decide to participate, I make sure they know how it works, what we expect of them. Furthermore, the workshop needs some coordination during its course; plans change, workshop participants run into problems during research, broadcasters have other ideas about their projects; all kinds of things that need to be discussed. It’s all in the game, it’s documentary.

How did the documentary film production in the Netherlands develop since the Kids & Docs workshop has been launched?

Our workshop definitely has had a positive impact on the development of childrens’ docs in the Netherlands. It stimulated almost 100 different filmmakers to make high quality programmes for children. The workshop, in close cooperation with a lot of different broadcasters and (more and more!) independent producers has resulted in 77 childrens’ docs now. Off course they are not all ‘genius’, but in general I think we can say that the quality is high, as well as the effort to experiment.

Would you say that the artistic documentary filmmaking for young audiences did get support or a kind of reliability through this program?

Yes indeed! Kids & Docs aim is – as well as the Media Funds’ - to stimulate filmmakers to create high quality documentaries for children. And by keep on doing and ‘preaching’ this, and evaluating the results, and creating volume over the years, we set a standard.

What is the additional benefit of documentary production for young audiences? What would you answer to somebody who asks‚ why documentaries for young audiences?’

Documentaries give us new perspectives on the world. They teach us new things, new ways of living, they give us insight in worlds we didn’t know and through all this, we see our own lives in a broader perspective. I think this is inspiring, and healthy even. And I think that this applies to both grown-ups and children. And besides documentaries in general about many different subjects, it’s enriching to consume, and tell, stories in different shapes, forms and visual approaches. That’s what we (Kids & Docs, the Mediafonds) encourage filmmakers to do.

How do you see the further development of kids documentaries in the nearer future?

I really hope that the success of Dutch childrens’ docs will keep the genre alive in the future. Dutch public broadcasters are confronted with big budget cuts (that also threaten the Mediafund that is likely to lose its total budget from 2017 on) and these kinds of programs are vulnerable. It is good to see that the genre has grown so much over the past years, but it’s still a delicate niche that needs to be taken care of and nourished. Also it’s good to think about crossing different platforms, media and genres; how can that bring childrens’ documentary further, both in terms of the creating process of the ‘content’ as well as finding your audience. There’s some terrain there to be explored by us, together with filmmakers and children.

“Documentary film uniquely meets one of the basic needs of young people—namely to want to get to the bottom of things in an open, inquisitive and imaginative way.”

Questions put to Katya Mader | Film editorial team ZDF/3sat

What was the thinking in the 3sat film editorial team that led to the “Ab 18!” call for proposals?

Over the past 20 years we have developed and produced two series of documentary films, which have dealt with the personal worlds of children up to 14 years old, or in the second case, 17-year-old girls, in the form of 30-minute-long films. These experiences gave us the impetus for the development of the documentary film series “Ab 18!” On one hand, we wanted to develop a proven forum for documentary film, in which we can reconcile the needs of television for format specifications with the particularities of auteur films. On the other hand, we wanted to realign the content focus on youth issues after 20 years of “Fremde Kinder” and “Mädchengeschichten” and to continue where the two predecessor series left off. That means crossing the threshold between childhood and adulthood, which the protagonists stand before, or on, in “Fremde Kinder” and “Mädchengeschichten.” “Ab 18!” is about young women and men who have left this liminal state behind them and who now operate autonomously and must find their bearings in the first decade of their lives as adults.

What are the benchmarks for this programme in terms of content and aesthetics?

We are looking for concepts for creative documentary films that differ from the reporting, objectifying television forms (reportage, feature, documentation). The films should each be dedicated to one protagonist (in exceptional case also a couple or group of friends) and be told personally and subjectively. We hope for authors who face their protagonists on an equal footing and who have a recognisable attitude and cinematic signature. We are open to all possible topics that are relevant to young adults between 18 and 28, and trust our authors to find protagonists who can carry a 30- to 45-minute-long documentary film. It is important for us that the filmmakers find a cinematic analogy for their protagonist’s stories, which does justice to both the personalities and the material as well as the short form, which should not be underestimated.

What do you answer if someone asks why there must be documentary films for children and young people?

Because documentary film uniquely meets one of the basic needs of young people—namely to want to get to the bottom of things in an open, inquisitive and imaginative way. And it can achieve so much more than the pure mediation of information or entertainment. In addition, documentary film offers huge narrative and creative freedom, which provides for a bit more variety in the daily media monotony and works on different levels: not only do they lead to real places and people, who one wouldn’t perhaps encounter otherwise, they also train seeing and understanding. Another characteristic of documentary films and their makers, which can not be over stated, is that one takes more time than is normal nowadays for encounters, empathy and serious reflection, and as such they can manage without the usually forms of ingratiation, which unfortunately often characterises adults’ engagement with youths and youth culture.

Documentary film productions for young target audiences surely don’t feature highly in the ratings—where is the profit in it for a broadcaster?

We do not produce our documentary film series targeted at a particular audience group. It is much more the case that we are interested in the issues and stories of young grown-ups, because we believe that insights into their worlds and the related questions around growing up today is worthwhile for the general 3sat audience—both for the parental generation as well as for young viewers, who, in the best case, can identify with the stories of the protagonists. Alongside this content aspect, the funding of documentary forms in television, which builds up the profile of the 3sat programme, is a matter for us that works reliably and sustainably as part of a series that has new calls for proposals every year. The compact form of the “Ab 18!” films means they can be positioned flexibly within the programme—both as a series and on their own. And they reach far beyond the horizon of the television programme, in that they are shown at festivals and in media pedagogic contexts, are awarded prizes and are spoken about in the press or social networks. That means the films are not only television content, but also cultural assets, and as such satisfy the 3sat remit of producing so-called “public values” alongside a certain amount of audience-accepted material.

“In no way have young people already given up on television”

Questions put to Gudrun Sommer | Head of the film festival doxs! documentary films for children and young people

What is the idea behind doku.klasse? Which experiences from doxs! led to the development of the project?

The basic idea is simple: documentary filmmakers exchange views on a concrete film project with young people—directly. All of the authors who took part in the 3sat “Ab 18!” call for proposals could apply for these workshops with their exposés. The name “doku.klasse” refers to the artistic context, to “film classes” or “ateliers” because it’s about an open, creative encounter and not about superficial test viewings with the audience.
Experience from earlier projects has shown that young people often don’t feel represented or engaged by what is on offer on TV, but that they have in no way already given up on television, as is often asserted. So instead of complaining that young people are turning away from television, one could try to enter into dialogue with them. We are interested in intelligent and creative forms of participation, between the audience, filmmakers and those responsible for broadcasting. It becomes really exciting when participation and having a say don’t just function as a marketing fig leaf, but enter into a dialogue with authorship.

The title of the symposium panel about the reason behind doku.klasse is “A youthful appearance is no longer enough”—does that mean that television and filmmakers must find out more about the attitudes and sensitivities of the young audience in order to reach them?

Knowing your audience is not a bad thing... But the next step would be to involve young people actively in programming. The relationship between supplier and recipient has not only been intensified, but also fundamentally changed by digitalisation. There are new technological possibilities and more importantly, a new consciousness for participatory processes.
But in particular the title plays on the radical change that television in general is subject to. The term “broadcast” as the essence of television’s remit is running into trouble given the importance of social media and video-on-demand platforms. The non-linear use of media libraries, twitter traffic, the interaction with programmes and the relationship with the viewer via facebook-likes are growing immensely in importance. Indication enough that the logic of television will change over the next years. The question is: what influence will this development have on the programme? What effects will this change have on the broadcasters’ media landscape, on the editorial teams and as such on the filmmakers and creative work?

The doku.klasse is a cooperation between doxs!, Grimme-Academy, ZDF/3sat and FSF Berlin—are so many partners necessary to stimulate the production of documentary films for young audiences?

In this case: yes. Because our aims are both in film education and in the qualification of filmmakers. The individual partners all bring their competences into the work and also function as multipliers in the respective scenes. These networks are essential for a niche topic such as documentary film for children and young people.

The education of film culture is of great political importance in most European countries. Is this where the future of documentary films for young viewers lies?

Hopefully not! Or more precisely: hopefully not only there.

Documentary film should already be a fixed component of curricular and extracurricular education. That’s why with doxs! we closely linked the festival with scholastic contexts from the very beginning. doku.klasse is also about the interface between cultural education and documentary praxis.
But to reduce this historically developed filmic form to that alone would be to fall decidedly short. Documentary work is, in the first instance, an artistic praxis, which, in the same way as music or theatre, is not at all limited to educational demands. Documentary film is a specific artistic form, a way to reflect the world, to formulate standpoints, to get involved—no matter who the target group is. It would be fatal if, in the future, documentary film for young people were forced to legitimise itself purely through its pedagogic use.

"If filmmakers are able to see many examples, they are challenged to improve and innovate the genre"

A few questions to Meike Statema | IDFA International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam

What is your task at IDFA and at the KIDS & DOCS workshop?

I am Head of Education at IDFA. This department organizes all kinds of projects for young audiences and emerging filmmakers. One of them is the Kids & Docs Workshop. Being part of the organization (together with the Mediafund and Cinekid) I need to make sure that the program and content of the workshop is there and that we make sure we have a good selection of filmmakers participating. When the results are there, I am in touch with the filmmakers, producers and broadcasters for the screening of their films at IDFA. So I am also responsible for the program section of children’s documentaries at IDFA. This is a selection of around 15 titles from all over the world.

How did the documentary film production in the Netherlands develop since the Kids & Docs workshop has been launched?

I think we managed to give a boost to the genre in the beginning. The industry got more committed, in the beginning these were mainly the broadcasters, nowadays a lot of producers are more and more interested as well. Also in times when the production volume got really low, I think 8-10 years ago, there were still results coming out of the workshop. The last years, a few broadcasters initiated great documentary series as well, so the number of titles increased enormously. So that is about the volume. Talking about the artistic quality of the productions, I think we really tried to improve the genre as well. Developing the projects in a workshop setting that you are able to sharpen every year, helps. Also, if filmmakers are able to see many examples (because of the volume as mentioned above), they are challenged to improve and innovate the genre further as well. I have the feeling we have a ‘scene’ now within the industry, with producers, broadcasters and filmmakers who are not producing just one title but are following up with more titles.

Would you say that the artistic documentary filmmaking for young audiences did get support or a kind of reliability through this program?

In a way I think so, yes. Like I said, we (including the committed broadcasters) kept going even in harder times. And now we are at a point that it has a good reputation and for example, producers who normally produced for adults are also attracted now to commit. So I think it helped. But for example, it is still hard to find the best slot on television for these kinds of productions. It is still a niche within a niche.

„Kids & Docs“ and „Zapp echt gebeurd“ combine the elements internet, television, cinema, festivals and interactive participation. What range of audience can be reached with this model, did the audience for documentaries expand by this cross section distribution?

I am afraid I cannot give you any numbers. But I think that this is what we need to do, get those films out there and being seen. The cooperation of these strong platforms is necessary to reach also new audiences. I think it is a hard audience. They might bump into a film by zapping or surfing and they keep watching because they (for example) recognize something in the story. But these are coincidences, I don’t believe they will say ‘documentaries’ to be their favorite to watch (besides the wildlife stories maybe). So you need to force them a little. By reaching them through schools and other kind of screenings during the festival. Once they watch, the response is really great. So there is a big task for us to keep finding ways to reach them.

What is the additional benefit of documentary production for young audiences? What would you answer to somebody who asks‚ why documentaries for young audiences?’

Of course the easiest answer would be: “Why not?”. If you think it is a powerful genre in general and if you think it is important to have good fiction films, books, games etc. for children why not making documentaries that are attractive to watch? It is my experience that the genre is perfect for a young audience if you hear and watch their response. Although I have no illusion and some will find them boring. The films can be fun or interesting to watch and after that ‘first level’ of experience, it often makes them think about themselves, their world around them. Sharing their opinion afterwards is an important aspect.

How do you see the further development of kids’ documentaries in the nearer future?
What kind of function do have festivals? Are they sort of incubator for new ideas concerning the visibility of documentaries?
What kind of special contribution provides IDFA in the KIDS & DOCS model?

I think a lot is said in the above already but I see it as a responsibility for IDFA to be part of an industry that is keeping the genre alive and finding new audiences. I think there is still a lot to win. Not only in numbers of audiences, but also in creating ways new media and platforms are influencing the genre, telling the stories in a different way and reaching them in a different way.

"The fact that all events really happened make the kids feel like it can happen to them"

A few questions to Melanie de Langen | VPRO Jeugd

„Zapp Echt Gebeurd“ is a docs-only-platform. How come?

Documentaries are a very important genre in the Netherlands. For adults there was already a digital documentary platform: NPO Doc, www.npodoc.nl (former: Holland Doc). Because we produce a lot of documentaries for children – in just the past fifteen years more then 300 docs for kids – there was a wish to create a platform for children. Different broadcasters worked together on ‘Zapp Echt Gebeurd’. And there it was, launched at the Dutch kids festival Cinekid in October 2011.

In mixed film programs (fiction, animation and documentaries) documentary films for the youth have a rather hard competition for audiences. Decision makers (teachers, parents) tend to prefer fiction before doc. What is your experience with the docs-only-program for young audiences?

Actually we see that a lot of teachers choose docs over fiction. The real stories have an incredible impact on children. The fact that all events are really happened make the kids feel like it can happen to them: it comes closer, and it creates more empathy for children who go through all that. Therefore it has a great educational value. Documentaries can expand children’s view of the world.

„Zapp Echt Gebeurd“ adresses the kids explicitly. How do you reach them? Who else gives support to enlarge your audience? Are there other media or websites who put a link to zappechtgebeurd.nl?

We reach them online thanks to the digital platform, after they were broadcasted on TV. A lot of school teachers follow us and we are part of a big school project called ‘Media Masters’ with 2900 classes (72.500 pupils). We work together with film festivals like Cinekid (Dutch kids festival), IDFA (International Dutch Documentary festival) and Movies that Matter, which put links to our website and the other way around.

How does VPRO integrate the feedback from the website in further commissioning and producing documentaries for young audiences?

Not directly, but we start an experiment at the Cinekid Festival in which children can submit their own movie for a masterclass and who knows for a further cooperation. On the platform we can also observe trends by reactions from children. And with this overview we saw a lot of documentaries had very heavy subjects. Then we can decide to go for a different approach in the Kids & Docs program for example.

What would you answer to somebody who asks ‚why documentaries for young audiences?’

Because they are real stories. Completely from the point of view of a child. You can really follow what the child goes through. And it’s told by an incredible work of cinematography. Therefore also very interesting for adults.

“For some these films simply give them the courage to step away from their own standpoint and think laterally.”

Question put to Maria Dickmeis and Andrea Ernst | Department for Ethics and Education, WDR television

dok’mal! addresses the young target audience directly without going via the school or parents. How did you reach this concept from the viewpoint of the broadcaster and the Ethics and Education programming group?

Imparting media competence is an important part of our public educational mandate. dok’mal!—for which both WDR and SWR are responsible—offers an outstanding online platform for this, where young people can find their way directly to the films and our multimedia content on the topic of media competence. dok’mal! offers both: films for young people and educational material for school lessons. Using the example of “JugendDokFilme”, we show what it is that makes a documentary film and how it differs from journalistic forms.

We address in particular the 13+ target group, so from the 7th grade up. With dok’mal! they find out lots about filmic and dramaturgic means in an entertaining way—ideally mediated by their teachers. On our portal they can find numerous suggestions for making lessons exciting—including creating their own projects such as photo stories, reviews or clips.
In the meantime, the further training of teachers is also a standard part of what we offer.

How do children and young people react, in your experience, to documentary forms / elements in films?

Young people often like to watch, for example, nature documentaries, docu-soaps, casting formats and other forms of scripted reality in their everyday lives. But they wouldn’t necessarily watch documentary films that look at everyday with a subjective, unrefined perspective, without guidance. This is where dok’mal! comes in: with our range of films which speak directly from the world of the young people, about their desires, fears and aspirations. In this way they are introduced to documentary film. The reaction is often very positive.

dok’mal! is associated with Planet Schule, where teaching material on individual films can be found, then of course the WDR with its documentary film production is also behind the project—how do uses complement each other?

The teaching material offers comprehensive information on the production of films with work sheets and lesson suggestions and explains, using many examples, how and with which means directors, editors and sound engineers work. The accompanying material and the workshops we offer encourage teachers to attempt their own film projects with their pupils. That is the central core of what dok’mal! has to offer. We facilitate the pupils’ introduction and access via films that deal with the topics in their everyday lives, which put their worlds, hopes and feelings centre stage.

The production of documentary films cannot usually be justified by their ratings. What do you answer if someone asks why there has to be documentary films for children and young people?

In a media world increasingly characterised by fakes, scripted reality and trash TV, documentary films convey a very different and very special quality in dealing with people and issues; they are mostly of great social relevance. They enable a deep, authentic view, participation in a real—sometimes foreign—world, in which reflection and slowness are allowed and desirable and, at best, stimulates reflection on one’s own positions and attitudes. For some these films also simply give them the courage to leave their own standpoint and think laterally.
Who could doubt that it’s important to bring children and young people close to this quality and open it up to them—and to do this from the perspective of their own worlds?! With films that focus on their topics, their everyday lives and their growing up.

That can’t be about ratings. That’s the public service and social remit. It’s about coming into contact with a media that has already become quite foreign to many young viewers. Young people’s television is increasingly mainly made up of fun and entertainment. Immersing in the lives and problems of their age group is, alongside fiction, news, reports etc., therefore important. Possibilities for identification are created, as documentary film is—alongside the experiencing of social relationships, emotions, the unusual, otherness and problems—also an aide to life/survival. Therefore it is extraordinarily important from our perspective for young people to know or to get to know the full range of filmic formats, and focussed on being age appropriate. On this foundation they can develop their own judgements and appraisals of mediated realities.

Where is the added value for the broadcaster to invest in this branch?

It’s not about added value for a broadcaster. It’s about added value for your society. We follow our statutory mandate, which all citizens are responsible for with their TV licence fees.

We must (!) attract young people to our programme and part of this is focusing on their topics, looking at the world from their perspective. If we can do that well, we can get them interested in our films. With the help of what we offer with dok’mal!, we can hopefully also contribute to children and young people learning to differentiate good films from bad and becoming more conscious of the possibilities of media manipulation.

“What happens in the cinema for young viewers is most often about escaping reality.”

Questions put to director Bernd Sahling

Not only your documentary films, but also your feature films, have a documentary signature—why do you think it is important to handle realistic material for children?

What happens in the cinema for young viewers is most often about escaping reality. Children go to the cinema to have a good time, without being “bothered” with problems from their own lives. That’s what is established, that’s how money can be made. What has almost been forgotten in this is how intense and beneficial it can be to experience stories in the cinema that have very much to do with your own everyday life.

How do children react, in your experience, to documentary forms / elements in films?

At first they are, of course, uncertain because they don’t know it. It requires an introduction so that they know what they are engaging with, just like what happens in the school cinema weeks.
Afterwards I have often experienced what is for me an unexpected gratitude, they are thankful that we have dealt with their conflicts, their fears and hopes in a film. And there is usually a desire for discussion after the film, to analyse what has been experienced.

The development of digital media influences the audience’s reception. How does this change or influence your work as a filmmaker?

I don’t really know to be honest. Many are of the opinion that because of the speed of the media that our children consume, films must also become quicker. But I have certainly been able to reach many children with slowness. The story is still the decisive point, whether it interests young viewers and whether the narrative style and the cinematic means correspond with the story of the film.
But what I have noticed is that there is a huge potential in their skills in photography, with their own small films, which almost every child films with their own device nowadays. I can always build on that when I run a film workshop with children. And it is equally helpful in film discussions that are also about the application of filmic means.

Where do you find support for the production of documentary films for children nowadays? Are new partnerships in the production and distribution of your films formed through digital media?

There is a lot of support from people who work with children themselves, whether they are teachers, media educators, non-commercial distributors or festival organizers. They are all looking for this kind of film projects, because they need them for their work.
The application of films has been greatly simplified by the diversity of playback possibilities.
But in terms of financing, we all have to start from the very beginning of that rocky road with each new project. Most of these kinds of films don’t make any profit and the ever-decreasing cultural film funding is fiercely contested.

Does the area of film education represent a (new) market, which, in your opinion, goes towards securing the place of artistic documentary film?

I wouldn’t call it a market. If we look at school budgets, for example, and their room for manoeuvre—there are other priorities as to where the money should go.
But society cannot ignore the growing demand for documentary films in the educational sphere and special budgets could be formed from that, which must be wrested by a unified political effort.

Cat's Cradle (Cama de Gato)

Documentary / Fiction by Filipa Reis & João Miller Guerra
Produced by Vende-Sefilmes
Portugal, 2012, 57’, HD
Portuguese with en subtitles
“Things happen, they occur and we either take advantage or we don’t. There’s a children’s game that, in Portugal, goes by the name cat’s cradle: the children tie a rope in a circle, then someone’s hand does this, someone else comes along and complicates it somehow, some finger complicates it even more, yet another one comes and twists his intertwined fingers and pulls his hand, and a new figure is formed. This game is called cat’s cradle. I think that what we have, in life, is a perpetual children’s game with the cat’s cradle, that life presents us with a problem, we look to see what we can get out of it, then we stick our fingers in it, we go like this and something else comes out.
At best, the ability we can hope to achieve is that of becoming children again, and be able to truly see how the cat‘s cradle turns out.” Agostinho da Silva
Award for Best Portuguese Short Film | Indielisboa 2012 | Lisbon, PT 
Revelation Award | Festival de Cinema Luso-Brasileiro de Santa Maria da Feira 2012 | Santa Maria da Feira, PT

Edna’s Day

Children’s documentary by Bernd Sahling
Produced by Blinker Film / WDR, supported by BKM / Kuratorium Junger Deutscher Film / Filmstiftung NRW.
Germany 2009, 20′
German with en subtitles
Having come to Germany only recently, Edna is new in the class. And she stills needs to learn the foreign language. Seated at an extra desk in the last row, the Bosnian girl is sometimes forgotten by the class. And Edna sometimes forgets the class, too. But she draws more and more attention to herself.
Developed within the dok you - Competition.

Ömer, The Lord

Documentary by Mehmet Akif Büyükataly.
Produced by Blinker Film / Boogiefilm / KHM / WDR
Germany 2011, HD, 11’
German with en subtitles
Ömer, the Lord, is cool – as cool as the fighters in video games and action movies. Ömer, the boy, is nice, a bit shy and listens to his mother. She is the keeper of the computer password that allows Ömer to enter his virtual world. There, Ömer improves the ninja fighter by making his armory stronger and raising his attack points by killing wild animals. In the real world, Ömer goes to the boxing gym to improve his own attack points.
When playing on his PSP or the family PC, Ömer feels independent and strong, and on facebook he may act like a real tough guy.
Made for the dok you - Competiton.

Sounds for Mazin

Documentary by Ingrid Kamerling.
Production Company: Hollandse Helden 
The Netherlands 2012, 19 min, Colour / HDCAM
Dutch / Arabic with en subtitles
Mazin (12) is deaf from the day he was born. But now he faces an operation that is supposed to make him hear. Excited about all the new things he might discover, Mazin is looking forward to it. What about hearing all these new sounds? And what about talking with his family?
But he keeps on having second thoughts. For one of his closest classmates a similar operation turned out to be a disaster. And even if he succeeds, the world as he knows it might never be the same again.

Première: 20th October 2012, Cinekid Amsterdam
TV première: 25th November 2012
Awards: Mediafondsprijs Kids & Docs 2012; Documenta Madrid 13; Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival 2013; Picture this…international film festival, Galgary Canada 2014; Tally Shorts Film Festival, Florida USA; Asterfest Int. Film Festival, Macedonia.


To Be A B-Girl

Documentary Film by Yasmin Angel. 
Produced by Blinker Film / Boogiefilm / KHM / ifs Köln / WDR
Germany 2013, HDV 20’20 
German with en subtitles
Jilou is a B-Girl. At the age of 13 she attended her first HipHop-Battle. She graduated a while ago and tries to figure out what to study. Jilou takes us to practice and to the battles, a world dominated by men. Usually she’s the only girl, but she doesn’t care about all the bruises which are a part of this sport.
Made for the dok you - Competition.

by Marcus Seibert

The first symposium on documentary film for children and young people took place 13 years ago. There has been much structural change since. Robust contexts have emerged over the last ten to fifteen years in the Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries, in which high quality children’s documentaries are regularly produced, shown at festivals, broadcasted, put online and presented in schools. Numerous TV broadcaster initiatives have also excelled in Germany—as already noted in 2001, these are all publicly owned channels. Kika has been created and is supplied with children’s documentaries by ZDF and the EBU, among others. There is Kids & Docs, doxs, dokyou, dokmal, KidDok, doku.klasse, doxwise, Youngdogs to name but a few of the aliases that stand for quality documentary film for children and the corresponding continuing development. In the process, documentary film for children has itself changed over the past 13 years: the coming change was already palpable in 2001. Kids & Docs in the Netherlands was two years old at the time. No more explanatory films, no films with openly educational intentions, no “school TV”. Films about the realities of life, which can be used in lessons—as now described in the symposium—as “stimulation for discussion” and no longer as instructional films with clear educational intent. It is interesting to note that the term “film culture” was used much more often in this year’s panel on “film education”, than in fact “education”. Films that allow children to talk about things that they otherwise might not talk about, because they feel reflected, understood or depicted in them, which allow them to talk and think representatively for themselves via the protagonists. So films not only “for” children, but also “about” children and “with” children.

The dfi symposium was therefore much less about the revival of the documentary form for young viewers, than, as Jana Touzimska from the festival “OneWorld” in Prague phrased it, absolutely and primarily about continuity: Once something is shut down or no longer produced, it can disappear for ever, endangering what has already been achieved. An artistic director or programme director with new ideas can be just as dangerous as the European financial crisis. This has been seen, for example, in the EBU, which houses the oldest permanent international exchange programme for children’s documentaries and has seen countries withdraw over recent years because their channels were closed down (Greece, Israel) or fees could no longer be paid (Cyprus, Spain). Continuity must also be present in the education and work possibilities of filmmakers—this too was re-emphasised time and again: It is in no way a matter of course that filmmakers make films with and for children. When they, for example, have the opportunity as freshers at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne (KHM) or other film schools to make a children’s documentary, talent must be further developed. Continuity is also important in the presence of films at festivals, where they have, in the meantime, won a large forum, but also in accessibility for the target group.

The Dutch model of success is proof of what can be achieved with continuity when various and even ever more institutions pull in one direction for now more than fifteen years and follow and continue to develop a well-running model over a long period of time. The success at festivals and the increasing interest in their films from abroad is only possible to this extent because work has been collectively concentrated in one direction for years to achieve the “Dutch Touch” and not only in the production of films. Albert Klein Haneveld from the production company Hollandse Helden emphasised how important it is to consider a film’s “second life”, its evaluation and visibility, from as early as the production budget.

There is also a successful and well-known traditional children’s documentary format in Germany: “Stark!”, supervised by ZDF children’s television editor Jens Ripke, with a slot on Sunday mornings on Kika. The WDR initiative “dokmal” started in a similar direction. Sometimes there is still a lack of continuity in the development of an independent film language. But particularly the degree of networking, reach and cross-media penetration, in a country where the broadcasters have small-state mentalities, remains behind those of their Dutch and Scandinavian neighbours.

What has changed noticeably in the past years, on account of technical developments, is children’s media reception, their way of dealing with film in general. While channel representatives talk naturally of broadcasting slots, only 20% of children declare that television is an important source of information for them—this was also a statement at the symposium. The now popular debate on the future of television was thrashed out with even greater fervour here than elsewhere: “generation selfie” are the trailblazers of a different use of media. This will confuse many things. A symposium in ten years may perhaps show exactly what und how. When the talk is time and again of “media competence”, it still sounds very much like educational paternalism to me: as if young people don’t have this competence and must first acquire it, whereas it often seems, when faced with my children, as though I must re-learn the unbiased view I always claim I have from them. Petra Schmitz of the dfi quoted the French philosopher Michel Serres on this: Let’s reverse any kind of mediation of the underlying presumption of incompetence. We are required to create the structures for a changed media use, not the other way around.

What such structures and changes may look like was unquestionably a focus of this symposium. Internet presence is what is decisive today. This in no way excludes the broadcasting companies, on the contrary. Internet platforms are a complement to broadcasting companies, reaching young audiences especially well. All of the broadcasters have recognised this by now. A quote on the margins of the symposium “The future of television is non-linear”. This appears to be threatening, but is also a chance. As well-practised content providers, broadcasters have contexts and structures that grant them an excellent starting position in a future of open Internet platforms and video on demand. The question of licence fees was often brought up, as well as the copyright situation of films freely available online over a long period. It is not only a question of appropriate remuneration for the filmmaker, but generally of the unclear legal position of intellectual property online. Only on the margins was there mention of the kind of obstacle the German amended state broadcasting agreement constitutes: to currently makes it difficult for public owned broadcasters to operate freely online.

Nevertheless, here too, many films end up online. But “films must be found”, as Reinhold Schöffel from the Bundesverband Jugend und Film put it: If even the young people who collaborate on the film website, don’t know about the documentary film website, then the question of how children should find their films online has clearly remained unanswered by that broadcaster. The tip came from the Netherlands that short pieces can be legally put on Youtube with a reference to the website. Visibility is a problem online. Groupings, concentrations, common strategies help. Think big, beyond the horizon of your own institution. The bigger the network, the more allies get involved, the more certain that the content reaches the user. There is no other way to deal with the algorithms of the search engines. Sometimes it seems it would be good to have a sixteen-year-old computer nerd in the online editorial team.

A loophole in the amended state broadcasting agreement, as to what extent broadcasters can operate online, seems to have resulted from the educational mandate. This traditionally means school TV, but also the mediation of film in lessons. The issue of film education. The audience called for the embedding of film education in lessons. This has long been the case, as was shown, as well as accompanying programmes, both online and live. “Movies in Motion” is what it is called in Germany when filmmakers such as Bernd Sahling go into schools and run workshops, but this also happens in many other countries too and is happily expanding. Schools have been recognised as disseminators. But also festivals: when classes come to screenings at festivals, it is often the surprisingly positive first contact with documentary films for children for many young viewers. But in order that what is on offer is taken advantage of, teachers in particular must be introduced to the possibilities that arise from the mediation of film culture. There is nowadays “film education moderator training”, but also increasingly film awareness in teacher training. “Any film is better than lessons”, said one of the pupils from the Cologne editorial team of the online-magazine spinxx laconically. This attractiveness is a chance for the mediation of film culture. That children’s documentaries are particularly important in teaching an awareness of the difference between fiction and documentary (which came up as an argument in the symposium) seems a bit thin and arbitrary. Children’s desire to engage with documentaries is manifest, as long as they are seen as “relevant”, as real, and speak of the realities of other children’s lives, this is as true today as it was 13 years ago. Incidentally, a series of films for Cologne schools, screened parallel to the symposium over two days, was attended by 400 children. At doxwise the statement was more offensive and inasmuch more fitting: “fuck reality shows—show us reality”.

There were only marginal pleas for children’s documentaries in cinema, which, at first glance, seems foreign to the users of new media. But is cinema really an old-fashioned and slowly dying form of presentation? Audience numbers tell a different story. Felix Vanginderhuysen from the distribution company Jekino reported that good results have been achieved in Belgium with screenings of 40-minute programmes at around 2 p.m. and 3 p.m., before the actual cinema programme. It would be worth trying this out in Germany, where children’s documentaries are often shown at festivals, but never in cinemas.

This apparently countercurrent tendency of increasing cinema use by young people is part of an observed multiplication of channels of presentation and presentation forms as suggested by McLuhan. Cinema and television, Facebook, Youtube, Internet platforms, video on demand, and, as the filmmaker Calle Overweg also hopes, DVDs: children can access films in all these ways nowadays. And all of these presentation forms can mutually refer to one another. This reproduction across channels makes the picture more complicated. The possibility to take part in something on the Internet, which partisans of a free Internet call “to share copies”, the free common use of copies, which are in the meantime originals, also changes the films. On Friday I sat behind the camera in the hall that recorded the symposium as doxwise was presented. In the camera display I could see the screen, on which a camera could also be seen. In the display of this camera was the protagonist of a video diary. Film in film in film, endlessly extendable loops like in a hall of mirrors. I can still remember the reverence with which I held a video camera in my hand for the first time—it created horrible pictures, but they were mine. Children grow up today with the possibility to make their own films as a matter of course, young people see films as a common form of expression, perhaps like poetry thirty years ago. Keyword: participation.

What was striking in the discussion around participative forms in children’s documentary film, was that a differentiation made in the title of the symposium only really came into view through this issue: documentary film for children AND YOUNG PEOPLE. Anyone who deals with children’s film knows about the different target groups: from 8 to 12, which the first lectures and panels were about and older children, youths, pubescent, but also already much more independent in their own expressive possibilities. Calle Overweg’s film “Die Villa”, among others, is an example that children from 8 to 12 are less interested in participation than older children. Films from the Screenagers initiative also show that the older the filmmakers become, the more interesting the stories. That doxwise is only aimed at the over-eighteen selfie generation does have a legal background—and even with those of legal age it would appear to be absolutely essential to protect young people from their own exhibitionism or more precisely, from the voyeurism of the viewer, from the shitstorms and the dissing. But if one asks if participative films will be the future of children’s documentaries, then the conclusion is more like: another channel, a wonderful playground, but more for the older ones. “You are the author of your own life story” could be read on a sign in the background of a documentary. But not everyone wants to be and become an author. And being an author certainly doesn’t mean you can edit. That was also illuminated in the debate: the appeal of participative formats lies in the combination of uninhibited young people playing themselves as content providers and professional teams in post-production. And it is precisely this, the editing, the montage, which is decisive in documentary film. These films are guided, artistically designed or at least well-crafted, thanks to professional know-how at the editing table.

The desire to make a documentary about oneself or to work with the camera doesn’t come from nowhere. The “Doorkijk” effect, the peek-in effect, as VPRO-Jeugd editor Melanie de Langen called it, should, for example rouse possible interest for the documentary film in general, for formats that are hosted on the same website, next to where young people can post their own work. And the presentation of life realities isn’t everything in documentary film with and by children, as was heard in the discussions about DIY formats: film is an art form, documentary film just as much as fictional. That can and must be mediated. In schools, but also in life in general. Under the surface the debates were also always about aesthetic quality. This was never discussed in detail because it’s a difficult theme for presentations and discussions on the podium, an extra question of taste. The corresponding conversations mainly took places during the breaks, where great passion was displayed. I will summarise in the style of a mood-board: “Documentary film must not manipulate. It creates a space for that which really happens, wat er echt gebeurd, as one says in Dutch.” – “Documentary films, especially with children, must be staged. Otherwise nothing of quality comes out of it.” – “But that always looks contrived with children who aren’t actors.” – “The look is decisive, the persuasive stylisation: if the camera operates wonderfully, no one notices the contrived acting.” – “It looks especially contrived if the camera mimics the aesthetic of music videos.” – “But all that slowly cut stuff is much more contrived. Kids don’t watch that anymore.” – “The problem is a very different one: the distinction between children’s film and adult film is artificial and obstructive.” – “But this distinction grants children’s film a shelter, which allows them coming to being in the first place. We should be happy for that.”

The discussions on content can be read twofold: one’s own aesthetic positions are always interwoven with presumptions of what young audiences really want. Or the other way around: they merge with one’s own desires for the film, but only in this way is it possible to make good, passionate films, which then also have the quality to find their audience. And how well this actually works became palpable in the young people’s discussion groups on the podium, which presented almost the same arguments for or against individual films. And secondly: such a passionate discussion on content would not even be possible without the many fantastic documentary films that we saw here during the symposium or online as part of our preparation—whether for, about or by children. That was, in this concentration, very stimulating and encouraging for me. It exists: the aesthetic high-quality documentary film with young protagonists. And it is valued by children and young people when they come into contact with it. It exists in the meantime in abundance, whether financed by broadcasters or by the municipal authorities of the Lisbon suburb Setúbal, by the Wandlitz parish, by the Goethe Institute or public trusts, which are frequently not yet in everyone’s mind as sponsors of collaborative work. It exists and the scene is very lively, a field in which many new co-operations are possible and many wonderful projects can arise, when the right people come together and when we all remain open to what children and young people are concerned with, how the media landscape and as such also the aesthetic of film changes. I wish us all luck and success in this over the next years.