Little Almería: FICI special
Little Almería: FICI special
26th, April 2007
For more than three years, the Association for the Promotion, Awareness, and Defense of Culture between Infancy and Youth ‘Tambor de Hojalata' ("Brass Drum"), has organized the International Film Festival for Infancy and Youth (FICI), which is held annually in Madrid during the month of November.For the week that the Festival lasts, one can see fiction, animation, short films, and documentaries from all over the world. These recently produced films are especially meant for children and teenagers. Most of them have never been seen in Spain before. Many of the films are shown in the company of the filmmakers or protagonists. The presence of these films in Madrid makes it easier for the distributors and programmers to learn about them and to provide them commercial support.
Through film, young people learn to see that the different positive values we have in society are the same all over the world. The multicultural nature of the exhibitions at the FICI makes it possible for kids to know about the different ways of life in different countries. The films give greater access to training, debate, and expression. For this reason, the Festival organizes conferences, courses… and the young people watch, on the big screen and surrounded by their friends, the short films that have been filmed with the help of the festival a few days earlier.
In conjunction with this, Tambor de Hojalata tries to defend the use of audiovisuals for infancy and teenagers, and promotes actions for doing so, such as by denouncing the constant breech in the film ratings system on the part of the distributors.
Members of the Association and professionals from the audiovisual field actively participate in the film courses organized in the schools, courses aimed especially for the youngest ones. ‘Tambor de Hojalata’ is also a member of different Spanish and international organizations concerned with this sector of society: OCTA, ECFA, CIFEJ.
This year, we are very proud to work in collaboration with ‘Almería en Corto’ by adding a section for young people to this festival, an initiative that we would like to continue so that the children of Almería can have the chance to see films made especially for them. The films we are going to show are the following: Historia de Cascabel, Espermazotoides, Pantoffelhelden, Pasmaidi, draugs and Viaje a Marte. In addition, we will be able to enjoy a short film entitled Historia de un chicle, made entirely by children from the school Ciudad de Córdoba in the Community of Madrid.
Ana Obradors
General Coordinator of FICI