Now accepting submissions for the 2009 Festival, taking place on Thu 2 April - Fri 10 April 2009.

We are looking for exciting and innovative films made both FOR and BY children and young people from across the UK and the world. The films can be shorts or features in any genre (fiction, documentary, animation) and in any format. With an established reputation as the most interactive young peoples’ Festival in the United Kingdom, we want films that will excite and motivate our audiences and that showcase the best and newest young filmmakers from around the globe.

NYFA (National Young Filmmakers’ Award) is for short films made BY children and young people (up to 19 years old) in the UK. Selected films will be entered into competition where a jury comprising of industry professionals will award £250 prizes in two age categories to the chosen films.

Deadline for NYFA entries is Friday 30th January 2009.

LYPFF - this category is for any films that are made specifically FOR children and young people. Entries can be any length, genre or format and submissions from anywhere in the world are welcomed.
Deadline for LYPFF entries is Monday 15th December 2008.

If your film is completed, please send it in now! Go to www.leedsyoungfilm.com to download the entry forms.

Adam Graham
Programme & Production Manager
Leeds Film, Town Hall, The Headrow, Leeds LS1 3AD, UK
T: +44 (0)113 2478398. F: +44 (0)113 2478494

www.leedsfilm.com
www.leedsyoungfilm.com
www.mediafish.org

Cafesociety.org spent 5 years working with schools and young people on several of the Native American reservations in Arizona. Here is a selection of those Films made during Cafesociety.org digital workshops with young people on the Navajo , Hopi and Gila River Indian Community reservations. [1998 - 2003].
 

Our largest project to date on the reservation was REZ02 and invloved 8 creative practitioners visiting Arizona to hold a series of new media workshops with young people.

On July 18th 2002, a crew of 8 digital artists made their way from the UK and Holland to Arizona, USA to create a series of digital stories working with a selection of native american and rurally isolated young people.

Firstly we aimed to deliver a language and culture based multimedia project, showing students how to use film making equipment, web design, photography and computer animation to tell a story. 

The project explored Language Ecology which is the preservation of linguistic and cultural diversity. By using multimedia and film making projects we equipped the young people with new skills to record and preserve their own heritage and stories. 

The second goal of the project was to open up discussion with teaching staff from schools in Arizona to the possibility of future ways of collaboratively working and developing online curriculum projects and materials with schools in the Withernsea and South Holderness region of England.

We believe in the necessity for the preservation and celebration of all voices and if the youth are empowered with the skills to use modern day communications technologies, they can continue to speak out in their own voices, protecting and promoting their own cultures as they see fit.

Mini Olympics transition project at St Marys College - Hull. During transition week over 250 year 6 pupils were given a whole range of new sporting activities to try along with guest speakers from the sporting and literature world.

Current media studies students from the school worked alongside Cafesociety.org and documented the ‘Mini Olympics’ and created a series of 20 news bulletins which were uploaded to www.smc4sport.net and viewed around school on whitebaords and flat screen TV’s.