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FROOOM! film Day in the Krapina Neanderthal Museum at Medezfest 2026
The animated film Day in the Krapina Neanderthal Museum, created within the framework of the FROOOM! Film School for Children and Youth, continues its remarkable international festival journey — this time as part of the competition programme of Medezfest, the international festival of children’s film creativity, to be held in May 2026 in Rabat, Malta.
This is already the film’s seventh international selection, confirming year after year the strength of children’s imagination, collective work, and film pedagogy as a space where art, heritage, and community genuinely meet.
A FILM THAT BRINGS THE PAST TO LIFE FROM A CHILD’S PERSPECTIVE
The film was created in 2022 during a FROOOM! workshop as part of the museum programme “WITH THE NEANDERTHAL” at the Krapina Neanderthal Museum. Through animation and a documentary approach, the children explored and reinterpreted the life of Neanderthals and the museum exhibition, creating their own playful and authentic version of the past.
This film is not merely an educational piece — it is a space of imagination, play, and interpretation, in which history meets the personal experience and creativity of its young authors.
The film was created by: Petar Borovečki, Franka Ivanjko, Nadja Lončar Uvodić, Parik Halužan, Toma Meštrović, Bartol Zagorec, Vita Bračić, Jana Herceg, Teo Lojić, Ivano Puljko, Matija Lojić and Vinka Novački
Workshop mentors: Maša Udovičić and Dea Jagić
Collaborators: Boris Bakal, Lorca Lončar Uvodić and Andrea Štefanec
FESTIVAL JOURNEY
So far, the film has been screened and selected at numerous international festivals:
Valparaiso Amateur Film Festival, Valparaiso, Chile (2024) – Main International Programme
Animator FEST – European Youth Festival of Animated Film, Jagodina, Serbia (2023) – Competition Programme
Anim!Arte – International Student Animation Festival, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2023) – Competition Programme
FIFES Comedy Film Festival, Luka, Croatia (2023) – Competition Programme
Psaroloco International Children’s & Young People’s Film Festival, Greece (2025) – Official Selection
San Antonio Independent Film Festival, Ecuador (2025) – Official Selection
And now — Medezfest, Malta (2026).
In this way, the creativity of children and young people from Krapina has travelled from an innovative national museum and its collection to international festivals — this film journeys across the world as a small, yet strong and important voice of children’s creativity.
FILM AS A SHARED SPACE
Day in the Krapina Neanderthal Museum shows how film can be more than a medium — it can be a tool for learning, exploration, and collaborative creation. Created through the cooperation of children, mentors, and several cultural institutions, this film testifies to the importance of involving young people in the active rethinking of heritage.
ABOUT THE FROOOM! FILM SCHOOL FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH
FROOOM! is an interdisciplinary educational and creative programme which, since 2012, has offered children and young people a practical, participatory, and creative entrance into the world of film — beyond the framework of passive viewing.
Its slogan is:
“You will see and experience what you do not see while watching a film!”
Congratulations to all the authors, and we look forward to new screenings!
