Launch of the National Youth Film Festival

Schools and youth groups invited to take part in free film screenings as part of £26 million investment in film education

21 October – 8 November 2013 sees the first National Youth Film Festival – a nationwide programme of free film screenings and related activities for children aged five to 19. Building on the success of National Schools Film Week which ran until 2012, the festival will be an annual celebration of film and cinema, enabling young people right across the UK to enjoy a wide variety of films and learn about film making and the film industry. It is a key element of FILM NATION UK’s exciting new unified programme of film education funded by the BFI(British Film Institute). Cinema First will also be investing in, and working in collaboration with the National Youth Film Festival, which is to be delivered with the support of National Schools Partnership.

The National Youth Film Festival gives schools and youth groups the opportunity to take their pupils to the cinema for free. Along with screenings of a diverse array of films, young people from all walks of life will be able to immerse themselves in a host of activities to inspire a lifelong passion for film, including:

• free entry into selected films in cinemas across the UK
• interactive workshops about film and filmmaking
• Q&A sessions with industry professionals
• screenings of work by young filmmakers
• a host of filmmaking competitions and awards
• special film industry guests curating innovative programmes

Teaching resources and post screening discussions will also enable teachers to use screenings for educational purposes to complement topics in the curriculum, develop review writing and critical skills, or teach pupils about film and filmmaking.

The new programme for watching, making and learning about film, of which the National Youth Film Festival is a key part, will be available to young people across the UK and will be delivered by FILM NATION UK, a new organisation, which will build on the work of two leading film education charities, FILMCLUB and First Light. The BFI‎ is investing £26 million of Lottery funds over four years – the largest investment in film education ever seen in this country – so that every five to 19 year-old in the UK has the opportunity to receive film education.FILM NATION UK enjoys the additional support of the film industry through funding from Cinema First – the exhibitor and distributors’ industry body that values the role of film education in developing a new audience for cinema.

To hear all the details on the National Youth Film Festival, simply register your interest at NationalYouthFilmFestival.org.