“La Maleta PRIX JEUNESSE” returns to Colombia
A report by Giselle Geney, filmmaker, Colombia
After many years, the PRIX JEUNESSE SUITCASE traveled back to Colombia and found lots of appreciation, new friends, interesting discussions, and most of all a very captive audience. This event held in Bogotá brought together professionals from different parts of the country, in order to exchange ideas and knowledge about quality children’s audiovisual content.
The PRIX JEUNESSE SUITCASE screening was successfully achieved thanks to the support of several organizations and academic institutions: the Ministry of Cultures, the Bogotá International Film Festival (BIFF), the Goethe Institute, and the Film and Television Program of the Universidad Central, which kindly provided the venue for the event.
Twenty-five people attended, including young professionals interested in children’s media as well as seasoned experts: screenwriters, producers, directors, animators and cultural managers, all united to see the best children’s television from around the world. It was a great intergenerational exchange and it was made even better by the fact that participants from the Colombia’s provinces of Santander, Meta, and Valle del Cauca were also part of the event. We had a great group of people eager to learn and share!
We were also honored to have Diana Díaz, Director of Colombia’s Ministry of Cultures’ Audiovisual Media and Film department, officially open the event. Her presence emphasized the significance of this gathering and its contribution to the growth of the children’s audiovisual sector in Colombia.
The event took place on October 15th and 16th and it featured three screening sessions, which followed the format of the PRIX JEUNESSE Festival in Munich. Each session focused on content for a specific age group: early childhood, childhood, and youth, in both non-fiction and fiction formats. After each screening, lively discussions were held, giving everyone the chance to express their thoughts on what they had seen.
The selected content from the festival included productions from Finland, Norway, The UK, Taiwan, Japan, México, Chile and Colombia (to name a few). Most of the programs were thoughtfully translated into Spanish, and a booklet with summaries and insights from each production was provided to the participants. It was thrilling to see everybody eagerly taking notes on their booklet, in order to save their thoughts for the discussion later on. Topics like artificial intelligence, co-creation with children, climate change, sexual and reproductive health challenges as well as the everlasting quest for a truthful representation of children and youth were explored in depth. These debates offered fresh perspectives and deepened the participants’ understanding of how to create impactful and meaningful content for young audiences.
I believe everyone left the event feeling inspired and motivated. The participants expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to be part of such an enriching experience.
We are confident that this event will inspire future projects that continue to raise the standards of children’s media in our country.
Thank you very much to the PRIX JEUNESSE organization for the opportunity to bring a bit of this amazing festival to my dear Colombian colleagues.
Warmest regards from Bogotá!
Giselle Geney