“How to Share Life Skills with the Younger Generation”
Mongolian Media Makers Draw Inspiration from the PRIX JEUNESSE Suitcase
A report by Dr. Hyunsook Chung
A PRIX JEUNESSE suitcase was held in Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia, on 26-27 April 2025, with about 35 participants. Mongolia is a country I have visited many times over the last 20 years, either for filming or to run production workshops. So, I know the country well, and for me the country stands as a symbol of strength and resilience. It’s such a wild and beautiful land, and such a tough environment, that Mongolians must be strong and tough to thrive there.
The PRIX JEUNESSE workshop was the first to be hosted by a new NGO called Under Tsar Negdel / The High Palace Collective, whose aims are to bring together industry organisations in order to improve children’s media research and production in Mongolia. The NGO’s director, Tuul, made a public call promoting the workshop, which was well attended by media professionals from various backgrounds – producers, writers, educators, social workers and commercial media producers. Tuul pointed out that for most participants children’s content creation is only one part of their job, to which they’ve been drawn by personal interest, with other production responsibilities or another job taking up most of their time. “Consequently, opportunities and conditions for producing high-quality, professional-grade content tailored specifically for children remain limited,” she said.
The workshop was entitled, “How to share life skills with the younger generation.” Whatever our age, we all experience difficult times and must learn how to overcome troubles, digest difficult feelings and sort things out. And I believe that these lessons in resilience are particularly important for young people. So for this PJ workshop we selected a suitcase of programmes on the theme of handling tough issues like family conflict, discrimination, inequality, disability and physical or cyber bullying.
Often these issues are considered very private matters and not discussed in public. But of course they are to be found in Mongolian society just like everywhere else, and children’s content needs to handle them in sensitive and balanced ways – not scaring children, but giving them ways to think through the difficulties. We content creators need to find ways to connect with children though the stories we tell, and to include them in the stories. Our young audiences should not be mere passive consumers; we want them to become active participants and problem-solvers.
The point of a workshop like this – bringing together passionate and enthusiastic children’s content makers to compare experiences and goals, and share their passions and enthusiasms – is to help us develop content like this.
Feeding back, D Tsogzolmaa, an expert from the Primary School Textbook Development Council at the Mongolian Education Institute, said that the screenings and discussion had given her new ideas for developing curricula that help young students understand topics such as family violence and developmental diversity. T Oyun, a specialist in group work with children on the autism spectrum, reported that she’d gained valuable ideas from the training on how to improve children’s understanding of their peers with disabilities. “Of course, European and Asian cultures differ, but it can be highly beneficial to share approaches to creating children’s content.” Another workshop participants was 10 year-old TV host D Undarga, who had a particular interest in content supporting children with disabilities or those affected by conflict. She said she’d enjoyed gaining new insights and ideas from the workshop.
For my part, I very much appreciate the work done by the PRIX JEUNESSE INTERNATIONAL team to share high-quality content through screenings and discussion. It’s especially important in smaller countries in Asia, where economic challenges make it harder to produce local content for children. Wherever we live and work, it’s good to face our challenges together, to develop local resources and identities, and grow the community of makers.
Thank you to Tuul and Ariun from Under Tsar Negdel, for their hard work organising this Suitcase, and for their dedication to making quality content for children in Mongolia!
Dr. Hyunsook Chung (Independent filmmaker)