Bogdan Zdrojewski
Dear organisers, participants and guests of the 27th International Young Audience Film Festival Ale Kino!
This year, the Festival will be marked by the 40th anniversary of the young audience film events organised in Poznań. Since 1969, when the first Polish Festival of Films for Children and Young People took place, its format, function and even its life cycle have all changed, but the idea of presenting and promoting the young audience cinema has remained the same. The consistent educational effort to sensitise the youth to the cinematic arts has translated into a real success story: this year the Ale Kino! organisers were rightly awarded the prize of the Polish Film Institute for their contribution to cinematic education of young audiences.
We all realise how difficult it is to make a valuable film for children that is supposed not only to entertain, but also to educate, to shape sensitivity and taste. The wide selection presented at the festival is directed not only at children and teenagers, but to a large extent at educators and teachers as well. This, among other things, makes the event exceptional. After film screenings, the festival serves as a discussion arena for professionals who search for the most valuable productions for young people. All these activities are designed to give answers to two questions: what kind of cinema young people want, and what kind of cinema filmmakers provide. I am convinced that such successful initiatives will help guide young festival guests into becoming conscious recipients of the art of cinema in the future.
I wish all the attendees of the festival many exciting moments while watching film stories. I wish the artists numerous awards in the competition, received both from the jury and the young audience.
Bogdan Zdrojewski
Minister of Culture and National Heritage
