Scotland’s first international film festival for children announced

Dundee Contemporary Arts and Macrobert Stirling have announced the creation of Discovery, Scotland’s first international film festival for children and young people.
Running from September 5-19 2004, the festival will be based in Dundee and Stirling before touring to venues around Scotland.
This unique event will showcase the very best of national and international film for and by children and young people, feature gala events, public and school screenings, special guest appearances, workshops and discussions. The festival will also create a major high profile national industry symposium at DCA and a day-long forum for film in education at Macrobert.
Acclaimed Scottish actor Billy Boyd, who appeared most recently in the eleven-Oscar-winning ‘Lord of the Rings’ has agreed be the patron of Discovery.
Born of the shared vision of Scotland’s leading centre for contemporary art and film, Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA) and Macrobert, this new festival’s collaborative partnership will energetically promote the importance and impact of quality film making, film availability and film education for children and young people in Scotland and the UK.
Discovery will feature a major public and family programme of film and opportunities to meet and talk with film makers, actors, editors, producers and others actively engaged in making quality films for children and young people in the UK, Europe and beyond. It aims to enrich the cultural experience of children and young people in Scotland by making quality world cinema accessible to them. It will also involve young people themselves in all aspects of the festival and provide a platform for their opinions and views to be heard. The festival will also include an ambitious programme of school screenings with education support.
A major Education Forum will take place at Macrobert in Stirling, which will bring together practitioner of film and media education of the formal and informal sectors from the UK and Europe as well as young people themselves, to address the needs and further the means for film and media representation in children’s and young people’s education.
Through major keynote speeches, provocative debates and discussions featuring major figures in the industry in the UK and internationally, a day-long industry forum at DCA will highlight the need for an active, creative and ambitious approach to the production and distribution of exciting films that are challenging and approprate.
Liz Moran, Artistic Director of Macrobert, said: This festival has been developed in response to the views of young people who want to see films created by their contemporaries alongside the very best of world cinema.
Faith Liddell, Director at DCA, added: “This is an enormously exciting initiative that will celebrate, stimulate and enrich the cultural experience of children and young people in Scotland.”
(GB)