Documentaries for a young audience are offering filmmakers an endless number of playful possibilities. But also a number of challenges. How can we stimulate documentaries for young audiences in different countries? What are the structures when it comes to production and distribution? What are the undiscovered possibilities to cooperate when it comes to financing? How can producers and directors anticipate on an audience who is consuming large amounts of screen content on multiple platforms and no longer watch television in a traditional way?
Children consume via the internet, Youtube, live streaming, sharing and series like VICE a substantial amount of documentary content. At certain ages they are like sponges, absorbing as much intellectual challenging topics as at all possible. We want to put this on a tip; We turn the mirror and send the challenge back to the creative producers: Help us play and reflect and think deeper on an innovative documentary format and its interpretation. Aimed at a platform, where children watch.
The initiative is kicked off with a roundtable discussion during IDFA in Amsterdam, November 26th, shedding light on the challenges of co-production and distribution of documentaries for young audiences.