2024
As an introduction to the competition program screenings, we present to you our partner organizations, festivals and workshops from Croatia and all around the world.
International Youth Media Summit (IYMS) is a unique annual event bringing together young delegates (filmmakers and diplomats aged 18-35) worldwide. Together, they collaborate on hands-on film production, creating impactful short films addressing global issues. Over the past 19 years, 1,700 participants from more than 80 countries have produced more than 140 short films. The seven recognized global issues addressed each year are Discrimination, Environment, Health, Poverty, Violence, Women’s Rights, and Youth Empowerment.
During the two-week Summit, delegates work in seven teams, guided by experts and professionals, to explore these issues and develop films that raise awareness and inspire action. IYMS fosters peaceful collaboration among diverse cultures and builds lasting global partnerships. After the Summit, delegates continue their work by organizing workshops in their communities, using their films to educate others and drive grassroots change.
As we prepare for the 20th Summit, we are thrilled to return to Karlovac, Croatia, from July 17 to 29, 2025. With Cinema Club Karlovac as the event organizer, we expect to host 70 delegates from more than 25 countries. This IYMS event will also incorporate the first-ever Seven Issues Film Festival. Screenings of the winners and the awards ceremony will be adjacent to the main Summit program.
Applications for the 20th IYMS will open in January 2025. For more information, find us at:
Instagram: @iyms.summit
YouTube: youtube.com/@iyms_org
Facebook: facebook.com/iyms.org
Web: www.iyms.org
Email: info@iyms.org
* Age group: 9 to 11; 12 to 15
* Program/competition: national, European and international
* Length of films: up to 10 min.
* Genre: all
* Year of production: not older than 2 years
* Festival’s dates: annual in May
* Homepage: https://balossmilanfilmfest.it/
Balóss Milan Film Festival is a festival dedicated to short films made by children and students in school and workshop settings. Its goal is to promote cinema as an educational and pedagogical tool by giving visibility to projects that would not otherwise have theatrical distribution, as well as to establish a network between various organizations involved in media education. In addition to screenings and seminars on cinematic language, in collaboration with the University of Milan-Bicocca, the festival organizes meetings with experts and workshop activities for young people.
Star Film Fest is an international short film festival that takes place at the end of August in the city of Sisak in authentic locations. This year, the 11th edition of Star Film Fest will take place from the 29th to 31st of August.
Through the categories of documentary, fiction, industrial, experimental and animated short film, Star Film Fest develops and maintains film culture in Sisak and the area during the three festival days, and offers film lovers the opportunity to watch film screenings under the starry sky. In addition to the main competition program, SFF proudly spreads film knowledge with its accompanying program – exhibitions, film workshops, concerts and discussions on current topics – which from its very beginning contributes to the growth and development of culture, critical thinking and honesty in Croatia and the world. The organizer of the festival, Cinema Club Sisak, is also the only continuous meeting place for filmmakers in the Sisak-Moslavina County.
Sarajevo Youth Film Festival is the largest and most important professional short film festival in Southeastern Europe. Putting young amateur and professional filmmakers in the foreground, and creating a platform whose main goal is the networking and development of young filmmakers, SYFF has positioned itself as a unique cultural, tourist and film event in the whole of Europe. Every year the festival shows an average of 70 films, organizes a series of musical events, a co-production market and educational masterclasses, as well as a series of conferences and receptions where it brings together new and young and older, more experienced professionals, sponsors, distributors, representatives of political and public life, as well as the industry representatives who can help with the development of films and cultural tourism. SYFF is held at five different locations in the city of Sarajevo, with around 15,000 visitors and more than 1,000 overnight stays in five days, it represents one of the most significant cultural and tourist projects in Sarajevo. With its famous guests, young actors from Netflix, Amazon Prime and HBO Max, SYFF is the second largest and most important film festival in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where this kind of content generates a large number of domestic and foreign guests and audiences. It also approaches new generations in a unique way, with the aim of educating and promoting short films, with an emphasis on festival films. SYFF focuses on new ideas and people and does not hesitate to directly, on behalf of young people, invite and emphasize topics that are often pushed aside. Sarajevo Youth Film Festival emphasizes regional and European short student and short professional films. The goal is to promote young filmmakers from Southeast Europe and to create a platform and environment within which they can present their professional and amateur films as well as gain new contacts for their further activity. The festival is also known for its unique open-air cinemas and its open-mindedness and simplicity in the communication between the audience, authors and special guests. In its program, the festival presents films in three competitive selections (SYFF Shorts, SYFF Generation Short and SYFF Generation Features), as well as through the SYFF Screen and SYFF Retrospective sections.
* Age group: 20 – 35
* Program/competition: international
* Genre: all
* Year of production: no older than 1 year
* Conditions: Zagreb or Split premiere
* Festival’s dates: Zagreb (September/October), Split (December)
* Homepage: www.playboxshorts.com
Playbox Shorts brings you an experience that is unique to Zagreb, a student film festival at the Hollywood level. Red carpet, VIP galas, live peformances and concerts, 3D cameras, press and live streams, all to celebrate incredible screenings of films by the world’s top film students. Indulge in the Hollywood lifestyle right here in Zagreb. Our inaugural film festival was attended by top Croatian actors, producers, and key players in the film industry, with over 1200 guests at our opening ceremony. Playbox Shorts Festival will be a weekend to remember, come and celebrate great films with us!
