Nedjelja, 25.02.2024.

OFF Youth Experience - a new program for young people aged 15-20 - all costs covered

Telemach Youth Film Festival Sarajevo presented a new film and youth initiative, intended for young film lovers between the ages of fifteen and twenty.

OFF Youth Experience is the newest program of the Telemach Youth Film Festival Sarajevo, which the festival realizes under the auspices of Cockt, a long-term partner of the Festival. Based on principles and inspired by the world famous Giffoni Film Festival, OFF Youth Experience (OFF_YE) aims to bring together young film enthusiasts and young filmmakers from the region.

During the eight days of the festival, participants between the ages of 15 and 20 will have the opportunity to watch films, exchange opinions and socialize with young people from the region. It is important to point out that young people from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia have priority in the selection.

Applications are open until May 1, 2024. All those interested can apply via the website www.ye.omladinski.ba, where more detailed information is available.
Participation in this Telemach Youth Film Festival program not only provides an opportunity to acquire and develop film knowledge, but also offers the best and most active individuals the opportunity to participate and exchange at regional and European partner festivals.

The eight-day program brings screenings of short films for the participants, after which there will be panel discussions with the authors of the films.

The uniqueness of the program lies in the fact that all participants of the OFF_YE program are also members of the youth jury. This means that young people will watch and decide on the best short film in the OFF Shorts category, and the best feature film in the new feature film program Wolf Competition 14plus.

In addition to film screenings, participants will also take part in OFF Talks programs with some of the biggest young film stars from the region and Europe, and they will expand their knowledge through OFF Mastermind programs where lectures will be given by young professionals from the digital and film world. .

OFF_YE partially relies on the "host families" program, where young people from other countries come to exchange with families in Sarajevo and then themselves become hosts to their colleagues from Sarajevo. About sixty young people participate in this program. All costs will be covered by the Edu Cuts festival network.

This program concept has been implemented by the Giffoni Film Festival in Italy for years, and in the last few years by OFF's partners from the Region such as Giffoni Makedonija, Interakcija from Serbia and others. The program proved to be a good move considering that it works on education and networking of young people from the Balkan region and Southeastern Europe.

The goal of the program is to achieve cultural exchange and enable all participants to meet new people, learn, watch movies and better understand the world around them.

OFF_YE is part of the program realized in cooperation with the regional youth festivals Giffoni S. Macedonia, Interaction from Serbia, PriFest Kosova and Podgorica Film Festival, Montenegro, Telemach OFF. All these festivals are part of the Edu Cuts festival network, which will soon be presented to the public in more detail.

The project is supported by the British Council within the "Culture and Creativity for the Western Balkans" (CC4WBs) project, which is financed by the European Union.