Schermi e Lavagne, the education department of the Cineteca di Bologna, once again offers a section (comprising about thirty films, together with creative workshops, shows and concerts) aimed at younger viewers who can access screenings and other events with special accreditation.
The section Folktales of the World celebrates the centenary of Italo Calvino’s birth with a show of sand-drawings curated by Nadia Ischia plus a series of shorts and the restoration of a Catalan version of Cinderella from 1950.
We pay tribute to La Rochelle Festival, a longstanding event devoted to animation cinema that takes place the week immediately after Cinema Ritrovato, with a series of shorts chosen from their programme Mer animée, aimed at children from the ages of four upwards.
The Cinemini project run by DFF –  Deutsches Film Institut & the Frankfurt Filmmuseum and financed by Creative Europe is also designed with very young viewers in mind. Its coordinator Sebastian Rosenow will present a selection of films of various genres which prove that, with the right accompaniment, even documentaries and experimental films can enthral young audiences.
After two years, the great tradition of late 1960s and early 1970s Polish animation returns with a series of shorts from the important Warsaw studio WFDiF (Wytwórnia Filmów Dokumentalnych i Fabularnych), presented by the curator Iga Harasimowicz. Not to be overlooked is our regular appointment with silent films with live musical accompaniment. Under the guidance of Daniele Furlati, students from the Conservatorio di Rovigo have composed soundtracks for several Italian films of the 1910s and will present them for children using a wide variety of musical instruments.
Finally, we will present two mini classics from the 1950s which have enthralled and moved generations of children: Albert Lamorisse’s Crin Blanc and Luigi Comencini’s Heidi.
Cinema Ritrovato Kids will also extend further across the city this year; in addition to confirmed screenings at the Giardino del Guasto and the Serre dei Giardini Margherita, there will also be screenings at the Sala Centofiori.
The Cinema Ritrovato Young group, which comprises boys and girls between the ages of 16 and 19, will present a special section of titles selected from the festival programme. Based on this selection, they will produce video clips, interviews with special guests and the public, and reviews. Anyone between the ages of 14 and 18 can request an Accredito Young, which will allow them to access all the festival screenings.
Finally, together with ECFA (European Children’s Film Association), Schermi e Lavagne will organize the first edition of the ECFA Workshop Warehouse. Over the course of three days, this initiative will bring to the festival around fifty Film Education practitioners and representatives from various European festivals specialising in young audiences.

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