The Takorama children’s film festival opened on 1 March 2021.
This festival, held under the patronage of UNESCO, is organised by the association Films Pour Enfants, created by Christophe and Olivier Defaye, and is sponsored by Serge Tisseron.
Intended for children all over the world, it offers 15 original short films organised in 5 age categories from 3 to 18, with solidarity, respect for others and sustainable development as a common theme. Its online version, entirely free and ad-free, is open to teachers and parents, who can register their class or their children so that they can take part in educational activities, explore new visual worlds and vote for their favourite short film. “Films allow children to develop a critical mind and to consider moving images, beyond entertainment, as a means of communication,” says Christophe Defaye, vice-president of Films pour enfants.
All the films are silent, using only music to shape the arc of the story. Primary and secondary school teachers can register their classes free of charge. Films pour enfants has published the classroom-use rights for the 15 short films, together with educational activities. Parents are also invited to register their children.
More than 500,000 participants are expected. Over 100 countries are taking part, but France accounts for 74% of the audience.
The 3-6-9-12 association is a partner. Six of us (Flore Guattari-Michaux, Coralie Raynaud, Sophie Bruneteaux, Marie-Noëlle Clément, Olivier Duris and Sonia Winter) have indeed played a large part in setting it up in two ways.
First, we drew up a grid to help think about classifying the films by age, in order to help parents and teachers choose according to children’s age, development and interests.
And second, we contributed to the selection of films during the national and then international festival run by the association “Films pour Enfants”, for the third year in a row. We took care to favour the films presented according to the following objectives: making educational resources available that teachers can use; artistic awakening and the appreciation of diversity; the staging of solidarity and empathy.
The result lives up to expectations! The diversity of the films on offer, both in terms of cinematic treatment and the themes addressed, makes viewing enjoyable at any age and is a precious source of shared emotions and exchanges between children and parents.
Online short film festival TAKORAMA 2021, from 1 March to 30 June 2021: https://www.takorama.org
