12 international children’s TV Experts came together from 19 – 24 January 2018 in Munich, to select the finalist programmes out of a total of 396 entries from 60 countries that were submitted to PRIX JEUNESSE INTERNATIONAL 2018.
December 11th 2017 was the deadline for entering submissions into PRIX JEUNESSE INTERNATIONAL 2018. Nearly 400 entries from 250 organizations from 59 different countries were submitted. They come from countries that have a long and successful history of sending programmes into the competition like for example the UK or the Netherlands. But we are excited to have also received submissions from countries that haven’t participated for many years, like the Ukraine or Venezuela.
Producers of WADADA News for Kids Ukraine and local media producers participated at this special event which was organized by NGO Aidami (Mariupol), Free Press Unlimited, Netherlands and UNICEF Ukraine. The Suitcase Workshop in Dnipro was held by Chris Schuepp who is also Editor-in-chief of WADADA News for Kids Ukraine.
Strong stories from all over the world expressed in art: Related to the theme of the PRIX JEUNESSE INTERNATIONAL 2018 “Strong Stories for Strong Children – Resilience and Storytelling” this year’s art contest’s theme is “The day I noticed I am strong”. Children worldwide were invited to draw a picture of a moment when they felt self-confident and good about themselves.
On 21, 22 and 23 August 2017, a first PRIX JEUNESSE Suitcase Workshop was held at the IPANC Cultural Center in Quito, Ecuador. About 40 local television production professionals took part in the event. The purpose of this meeting was to develop strategies to improve the quality of television productions for children.
Since 2009, producers, creators of contents for children and young people that are starting to work in this area gather in the city of São Paulo to participate in the Prix Jeunesse Iberoamericano Festival, under the comKids brand. Most of them come Ibero-American countries and speak Portuguese and Spanish.
On Thursday, June 8th, 2017, a one-day workshop on quality TV for children was conducted in Tel Aviv. This workshop was initiated by PRIX JEUNESSE, in association with Goethe-Institute, and CoPro, the Documentary Marketing Foundation, Israel. 35 independent and network film and TV professionals came together to watch, discuss, and be inspired by a selection of programs from the PRIX JEUNESSE Suitcase. The screening order was thematically motivated, and the day consisted of four separate sessions: Gender and Sexuality. Painful Situations, Unlikely Heroes, and Everyday Life.
On Monday, May 15th 2017, the Storytelling Club – an initiative by PRIX JEUNESSE Foundation in collaboration with the International Central Institute for Youth and Educational Television (IZI) and UNICEF, was initiated for the first time ever in Lebanon.
A travelling suitcase, loaded with the best contents for children, arrived in Mexico in May 2017. Its contents were as valuable as a hidden treasure; a careful selection of programs, short films, fictions and non-fictions from around the world that empowered children and reflected them as active actors in their stories.
When I attended PRIX JEUNESSE INTERNATIONAL in 2014 for the first time I was thrilled by seeing so many people from different countries watching wonderful programs and connecting with each other for future cooperation. This was when I started thinking of organizing something similar for my students. Fortunately, we had the chance to be part of the PJ International Youth Jury in 2016 and this was when I realized the interest of the students to learn about media, even after school. In the beginning of 2017 I talked to Kirsten Schneid, PRIX JEUNESSE’s festival and project coordinator, about the possibility to organize a PJ Suitcase workshop in Malisheva. The aim was to involve a larger number of students, teachers and even our National TV. For me this was a great challenge, having to organize a cultural event without any financial support from our local government. But with joint forces we managed – thanks to my school director, friends and my students.
