FROOOM! Film School in Zagreb, Rijeka, and Split

This spring, Shadow Casters are launching a true film adventure taking place in three Croatian cities—Zagreb, Rijeka, and Split! Join us for FROOOM! film workshops that offer everything from first steps in filmmaking to more advanced challenges in editing, screenwriting, and filming.

The first session of the FROOOM! Film School will take place during the spring holidays, from March 30 to April 3, and will be held in Zagreb at Dr. Ivan Merz Primary School, in Rijeka at Dječja kuća (Children’s House), and in Split at the Multimedia Cultural Centre.
The workshops are intended for school-aged children of all ages, and this is only the beginning of this year’s film journey, which will continue from Zagreb to several other cities across Croatia. Children can already be registered via the registration form we have prepared.

Introductory Workshop Description

In the introductory workshop, we watch the latest films as well as classic and anthology works, learning how to analyze and view films critically. We learn through play, focusing on shots and framing, film types and genres, how to write a screenplay, and the basics of stop-motion animation, through which we explore the role and importance of editing and storytelling—dramaturgy.

We play with everything and anything that has made film possible: from Chinese zoetropes and Mannerist optical experiments, through French praxinoscopes, the camera obscura, and analog film stock, to drones, videophones, television, smartphones, and computer games. We learn about film as a unique way of recording reality, as a means of communication, and as an art form—all through play and collective work.

Advanced Workshop Description

In the advanced workshop, participants revisit and build upon everything they already know or have learned in the introductory level, connecting their experience with film and media content encountered in the time between the two workshops.

Together with other participants and mentors, they develop stories that will be transformed into documentary, fiction, or experimental films. Throughout the process (if they wish), participants use smartphones or iPads to continuously create short stop-motion animations of everything happening around them—a making of FROOOM!

They exchange and advocate for their stories and screenplays among themselves, and finally, after production preparation, developing the screenplay into a shooting script, selecting locations (location scouting), and choosing performers/main characters (casting), they shoot the film and prepare it for editing.

Master Workshop Description

Each FROOOM! master workshop is dedicated to a specific theme that opens up new perspectives on filmmaking. The theme of this workshop will be revealed soon—for now, we can say only that it will bring new questions, different viewpoints, and plenty of space for exploration and exchange of experience.

Mentors

Alongside its programs and locations, what makes the FROOOM! Film School special year after year is the team behind it. Soon, we will introduce the mentors who will once again guide children and young people through the exciting world of film—from the first idea to the final shot.

These are experienced filmmakers, directors, cinematographers, editors, actors, and film educators who have been successfully working for years both with the camera and with young audiences. Their expertise comes not only from professional work in film and performing arts, but also from long-standing experience working with children and youth—where listening, encouraging, and supporting are just as important.

FROOOM! mentors do not teach children only technical skills; they encourage them to think critically, ask questions, observe the world around them, and express their own perspectives through film. Through collaborative work, experimentation, and play, participants learn how a film crew functions, how an idea develops into a story, and how creativity is transformed into a concrete audiovisual work.

About FROOOM! Film School

The FROOOM! Film School for children and youth exists with the aim of teaching participants how to watch and understand film language, while encouraging active exploration and the creation of video content. FROOOM! is an innovative and interdisciplinary educational program intended for children and young people aged 7 to 18.

Through film workshops, participants explore film history, analyze media content, and develop creative skills. Workshops are held in small groups, and the program includes different levels: introductory, advanced, and master.

The first FROOOM! Film School was held in 2012 in Zagreb and was created by the non-profit organization Shadow Casters, led by Boris Bakal.

About Shadow Casters

Shadow Casters are a multi-award-winning and critically acclaimed artistic and production platform for interdisciplinary collaboration, creation, and reflection on intermedia art. The organization successfully and seamlessly intertwines film production, international collaboration, theatrical performances, urban intermedia projects, activism, educational work, video art, and curatorial practice into a comprehensive artistic endeavor.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank our collaborators for providing venues and our partners:
Dr. Ivan Merz Primary School; Multimedia Cultural Centre Split & Dom Mladih; Dječja kuća – Children’s House, Centre for Culture and Arts for Children; Rijeka City Library – Art Quarter “Benčić”; Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC); Kultura Nova Foundation; National Foundation for Civil Society Development; City of Zagreb; City of Split; City of Rijeka; Primorje-Gorski Kotar County; Agency for Electronic Media; Croatian Film Directors’ Guild.