FROOOM!: Young Frooom participants are traveling to Filem’On once again

Filem’On is an international film festival for children and youth held in Brussels. It was established with the aim of promoting film art among young people, encouraging their creativity and critical thinking. Every year, the Filem’On festival offers a rich program that includes film screenings, workshops, and activities aimed at children and teenagers up to 16 years old.

The festival offers a wide range of films, including feature, animated, and documentary films from all over the world, many of which are not typically available in commercial cinemas. Filem’On also advocates for cultural diversity, showcasing films in multiple languages with subtitles to make them accessible to as many children as possible from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds in Brussels.

In addition to the film program, Filem’On organizes numerous participatory projects, including collaborations with schools and various local organizations, aimed at involving children and young people in the filmmaking process. In this way, children have the opportunity not only to watch films but also to learn how they are made, thereby developing their audiovisual skills and understanding of film language.

Filem’On does not only take place during the festival; the organization works throughout the year, participating in various projects and events related to film and media literacy for children and youth.

This year, our participants from Rijeka and Zagreb—Mirej Đurović, Toni Sancho Janicki, Dora Pecigoš, Martin Šamanović, and Nina Janežić — are traveling to Filem’On accompanied by Boris Bakal, the president and founder of the Shadow Casters Association, and Mija Maros Živković, the head of Frooom! film school.

“The mentioned participants have attended more than two workshops, some even nine workshops over the years, and they have demonstrated knowledge, skills, and a desire to engage in filmmaking. This will be a wonderful experience for them, an opportunity for networking, creating new international friendships, and of course, a chance to learn and see good practices. They will socialize with film professionals, watch films, analyze them, and ultimately select the best ones. In addition to all this, they have various workshops and tasks to complete. Divided into groups, they will organize the closing ceremony, moderate discussions with film authors, and more,” says Mia Maros Živković.

This is not the first time that Shadow Casters and Frooom! are traveling to Filem’On. It is, in fact, a long-term collaboration that has been ongoing since 2020, and every year our Frooomers get the opportunity to attend this festival where they have had the chance to judge films and award prizes for the best films for teenagers.