Skip to content Skip to menu
30/5 — 5/6/2024
64th INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH
MY ZFF
APP download
TV Zlínfest

Film sections

The program structure of the festival has a clear and understandable profile: a festival of films starring children and adolescents. In practice, this means that the festival almost exclusively presents films FOR children & youth and ABOUT children & youth. Films about children & young people are aimed more at an adult audience, which naturally fulfils the festival's vision of being a film festival for the whole family, with the unique added value of the diversity of cultures and traditions that world cinema offers. An important aspect is to educate children and young people to be more open-minded and tolerant in their views, as well as to set the perception of film as a medium that mediates generational, creative, and social dialogue.  

The film program consists of two basic program blocks and their sections, the overview of which is firmly anchored in the festival's statutes. The basic pillar of the program structure is the competition sections, which include feature films, short animated films, student films, and feature documentaries. In the out-of-competition sections, the content is slightly adjusted each year to respond to current themes or trends.

Children and adolescents in different life situations form the main content line in the competitions.

COMPETITIONS

  • Competition films for children are not only meant to entertain and develop imagination, but also to bring knowledge about the life of children in other parts of the world.
  • In films for teenagers and older youth, we focus on themes of the search for personal and social identity of adolescents, as well as quality entertainment against the background of different cultures, traditions and values.
  • Children and adolescents and their everyday real-life joys and concerns are the focus of our feature documentary section, which found its firm place among the competitions in 2018 and is organised together with the European Childrens Film Association (ECFA).
  • Short animated films up to 15 minutes are aimed at children up to 12 years old and present current trends in global animation.
  • The student film competition section is also a major event, with more than 2000 entries each year.

NON-COMPETITIVE SECTIONS

  • An important part of the festival is the presentation of Czech film and television production for children and youth, which presents, especially for foreign film professionals (e.g. festival representatives), a comprehensive offer of domestic production in this field over the last year.
  • The informative sections Panorama and Beyond the Horizon of Childhood offer a collection of the latest children's and youth titles awarded at other festivals or films that bring "mere" entertainment and joy and do not reach festival audiences in mainstream distribution.
  • For the fifth year, the festival offers a showcase of VR films, which each year is complemented by a series of expert lectures and other supporting programs.
  • Last year we added a new section, the European Web Series for Young Audiences.