After the success of last year’s festival, Zoom - Wales’ International Young People’s Film Festival is back. This years festival run’s from the 7th – 10th February 2008 across the South Wales Valleys.
Young people up to the age of 25 can enter short films they have made (from as far back as 2006) to get the chance to win a Zoom Young Film Makers Award. Last year, we saw short films made by people all over Wales from all genres and levels of experience. Last years winners received recognition from industry professionals in one case leading to a scholarship at MediaBridge in Chicago, USA.
Another of last years participants Jack Pillips had this to say –“ Last year we met so many influential people, and I got the chance to go to France as a UK representative of YEFF! Where I got to work with International filmmakers and up to Edinburgh for the TVYP conference all thanks to Zoom.”
The festival kicks off with a red carpet opening party and the advanced screening of Azur and Asmar directed by Michel Ocelot, as well as the premier of a short film made by a local primary school.
During the festival international films will be shown in four venues and the audience will be able to vote via text or online for their favourite film to win the Zoom Audience Award. This year we have a wide range of films from Spirited away (A must see according to the British Film Institute), Kurt Cobain About a Son, and new US horror from the makers of Saw - Dead Silence. Film screenings cost £2 for under 18’s and £3 for over 18’s.
On the final day of the festival we will host the Zoom Young Filmmakers Awards sponsored by the Film Agency for Wales. Entrants will have the chance to compete in ten award categories and see their films on the Big Screen. The awards will be presented by a panel of film judges as well as celebrities and friends of Zoom. Following this there will be a closing party for all Zoom participants.
Zoom offers young people the opportunity to work with film and media proffessionals via workshops that run all week and cost as little as £2. This year we have workshops hosted by the British Board of Film Classification, Skillset screen academy Wales and Cyfle. There will also be more hands on workshops, such as special effects make-up, puppetry, improvisation and animation run by Moonoo.
Director of Zoom Lisa Davies says, “This year’s festival will be bigger and better, we have brilliant films to showcase and there are workshops for all ages and personalities. It really is a great opportunity for young people from the South Wales Valleys and beyond, who are interested in film to learn more and showcase their talents”.
Don’t miss out this year, we are now taking bookings for film screenings and workshops spaces are limited. To find out more please visit our website www.zoomcymru.com
Further info:
The four venues are :
Muni Arts Centre, Pontypridd.
Blackwood Miners Institute.
Abertillery Metropole.
The Welsh Centre, Merthyr Tydfil
Tickets are available by calling :
Muni Arts Centre on -01443 485934
Abertillery Met on – 01495 322510
Brochures including festival timetables are available from Zoom Head Office :
Office 5, Porth Plaza,
Foundry Place,
Off Pontypridd Road,
Porth
CF39 9PG
The ten awards for the Zoom Young Filmmakers Awards 2008 are:
- Best Film in age category 8-13. Sponsored by the Film agency for Wales.
- Best Film in age category 14-25. Sponsored by the Film agency for Wales.
- Best Performance.
- Best Direction.
- Best Animated Film. Sponsored by Calon.
- Best Documentary. Sponsored by Green bay Media.
- Best Fiction. Sponsored by Skillset Screen Academy Wales.
- Best Welsh language film.
- Zoom audience award. Voted for by the audience.
- the Zoom award.
TVYP is Television for Young People. TVYP is about making TV more accessible – getting a break isn’t easy, so by providing free workshops and career advice, TVYP gives many a head start and gives young people a chance to see just how exciting working in TV really is!
YEFF! is a European youth film meeting and a growing network. Yeff! offers a forum where young people from all over Europe meet and present their films on cultural diversity issues.