The green Morris Minor which, along with a large steel tripod, film equipment and computers constitutes DFI’s mobile film studio FILM-Y, has taken the trip all the way to Romania. Children will get the opportunity to explore the creative and technical processes of film-making. During 4-5 hours they get hands-on experience in directing, acting in, shooting and editing their own film, where a Morris Minor equipped with a back projection is the main prop in a car chase story.
FILM-Y's visit is part of a Danish focus at Transilvania International Film Festival in Cluj, Romania on the occasion of the Danish EU Presidency. The official opening is Friday 1 Jun in the Art Museum in central Cluj, where the Danish ambassador from Bucharest, Michael Sternberg is attending. The workshop has already aroused a great deal of excitement for the test class that has just been through the process. So says Film Y's Louise Fischer, who has been in Cluj this week to train local film school students as guides for the children.
"The children are super enthusiastic. They tumble over each other to be the director, and they are full of ideas. It's a whole other world than what we are used to from tours in London and Brussels. Today, a class from the village is visiting, and it's a great experience for the children who are not usually surrounded by computers and technology. Overall, they are very pleased and grateful at the festival, and we receive plenty of attention. In addition to the guides we have hired, several film students have volunteered, so there are 10 adults tutoring each class," says Louise Fischer.
FILM-Y is open for school classes on weekdays and families on weekends from 1-19 June. During the school visits, the classes are divided in two groups, where the first half receives a tour in the film studio, learns about film history and watches a film, while the second half learns about storytelling and filmmaking, before they produce their own film. After lunch, they switch and finish the day by watching each others' films. All school events and family days are already sold out.
Danish focus
The festival shows six Danish films in a special focus and additionally six films in other sections, including Mads Matthiesen's Sundance winner "Teddy Bear" in the competition. The 12 selected films are:
Competition
Teddy Bear – Mads Matthiesen
Focus: Denmark
A Funny Man - Martin P. Zandvliet
Ballroom Dancer- Andreas Koefoed og Christian Bonke
Beast – Christoffer Boe
Out of Bounds – Frederikke Aspöck
The Invention Dr. Nakamats - Kaspar Astrup Schröder
The Ambassador – Mads Brügger
3x3: Ole Christian Madsen
Superclásico
Prague
Kira's reason - A Love Story
No Limit
Love Is in the Air – Simon Staho
EducaTIFF
The Great Bear – Esben Toft Jacobsen
Transilvania Film Festival is a young dynamic festival and plays a major role in the Romanian film culture. In the series of film initiatives during the Danish EU Presidency, the festival is the first collaboration with one of the new Eastern European member states.
Transilvania International Film Festival (1.-10. juni 2012)