Buje@teen children and youth program for the first time in Buje, from 21–24 July • Seven G-rated features and eight shorts
It is an old truth that turning points are usually followed by makeovers. This also applies to Motovun Film Festival’s children and youth program. On its tenth anniversary, our Buzz@teen has become Buje@teen and has moved to a new location – Buje!
Marking the anniversary, Motovun Film Festival has prepared an assortment of feature and short films for its young and sharp critics of all ages.
The youngest ones will have an opportunity to enjoy a series of animated shorts that, with the help of animated animal friends, will teach them how to write letters, control their fear, manage their anger and, with laugh and compassion, plunge into different worlds and experiences on the silver screen.
Those who are a bit older will be able to enjoy seven features. Films from all over Europe will be competing for the award given by the children and youth jury. Two Swedish films will be shown, both in cooperation with Sweden, this year’s Partner Country of Motovun Film Festival. One is Comedy Queen, the winner of Generation Kplus program at this year’s Berlinale. It is a film about a 12-year-old girl who, after having lost her mother, sets out to become a stand-up comedian in order to bring back the smile to her sad father’s face. Adrenalin lovers will be happy to watch Nelly Rapp – Monster Agent, a horror comedy about the 8-year-old outsider Nelly who finds out she comes from an old line of monster hunters. But sometimes there is a kind heart behind a tough appearance.
There will be two films from the region, too. In the Serbian-Croatian coproduction How I Learned to Fly, 12-year-old Sofia spends an unforgettable summer on the Adriatic coast. Yours and everyone’s favorite hero Gaja is about to experience new adventures in the Slovenian film Gaja’s World 2, a sequel to the detective story that won the Buzz@teen Jury Award in 2019. Three years later, Gaja and her friends once again end up in trouble.
Juozapas, the sickly young protagonist of the Lithuanian film Butterfly’s Heart, will introduce to us the fantastic world of bugs. In order to avoid being bullied, the shy Juozapas finds refuge in an ancient forest and an abandoned villa, where he builds a microcosm for his buzzy little friends. A new friend is about to join him there.
Fans of animated films will come into their own, too. In Dutch stop-motion film Oink, little Babs gets a gift from her Grandpa; instead of the usual barking furball, this time it is a pink little creature whose bark sounds suspiciously like squealing.
As MFF Children and Youth Program always tends to introduce different cultures and languages to our young viewers, we’re happy to say that the screenings will be taking place in a theater that once broke language barriers between the local Croatian and Italian communities, revealing that we all share one lingua franca – movies.
The screenings will be taking place in PUO Buje at 6pm and 8.30pm from 21–24 July.