YAAAS! Competition & School Screenings
25.02.2022 // In 2022, CROSSING EUROPE is once more dedicated to the aim of getting the next generation excited about film. Since 2019, the YAAAS! Youth Program offers a holistic program for film education, the acquisition of media competency and DIY video production. Youths between the ages of fifteen and twenty get the opportunity at YAAAS! to enter into a direct exchange with industry professionals, to learn new skills during practice orientated workshops, to see and discuss films, but also to present their own work in the framework of a professional film festival. Details on YAAAS! can be found here.
A central part of the youth program is the YAAAS! Competition, one of four competition sections in CROSSING EUROPE. Six contemporary European feature films (Austrian premieres) were selected by the YAAAS! Young Programmers Andrea Reininger, Julia Stöckl, Marco Barthofer, Marie-Louise Schmidinger, Marlene Frostel, and Oliver Parsch. These six youths all attend the HBLA für künstlerische Gestaltung Linz, and have taken part in an introductory course on the process of curating films and leading Q&A sessions at the YAAAS! screenings, in addition to being responsible for the participants of the various YAAAS!-modules.
The films selected by the YAAAS! Young Programmers all stand out due to their topical choices as well as their artistic diversity, and all deal with the different lived realities of European youths and young adults. One of the six YAAAS! Competition films will be awarded the CROSSING EUROPE Award – Youth Jury (€ 3000,- powered by VdFS) by the YAAAS! Youth Jury.
The following three films from the YAAAS! Competition will also be shown as special school screenings:
You can register for the YAAAS! school screenings from 3 March onward at yaaas@crossingeurope.at. Details, film descriptions, trailers, as well as school materials to prepare for and follow-up on the school screenings can also be found after 3 March on our website.
A central part of the youth program is the YAAAS! Competition, one of four competition sections in CROSSING EUROPE. Six contemporary European feature films (Austrian premieres) were selected by the YAAAS! Young Programmers Andrea Reininger, Julia Stöckl, Marco Barthofer, Marie-Louise Schmidinger, Marlene Frostel, and Oliver Parsch. These six youths all attend the HBLA für künstlerische Gestaltung Linz, and have taken part in an introductory course on the process of curating films and leading Q&A sessions at the YAAAS! screenings, in addition to being responsible for the participants of the various YAAAS!-modules.
The films selected by the YAAAS! Young Programmers all stand out due to their topical choices as well as their artistic diversity, and all deal with the different lived realities of European youths and young adults. One of the six YAAAS! Competition films will be awarded the CROSSING EUROPE Award – Youth Jury (€ 3000,- powered by VdFS) by the YAAAS! Youth Jury.
The following three films from the YAAAS! Competition will also be shown as special school screenings:
- NINJABABY (NO 2021, directed by Yngvild Sve Flikke, 103 min, with German subtitles) – feature film | Austrian premiere, distributor in Austria: Filmladen; Cinema opening: September 2022 |
An astronaut, a forester, or a cartoonist – these are some of the professional paths the twenty three year old Rakel can think of. The student spends a lot of her time drawing, drinking, and getting high. But her plans for the future all collapse when she finds out that she is pregnant. And Rakel is not even certain of who the father is! She had planned for everything, except for becoming a mother. When her baby then manifests itself as a masked cartoon character that asks her uncomfortable questions, she is at her wits ends. (Julia Stöckl, YAAAS! Young Programmer)
- UNE HISTOIRE D’AMOUR ET DE DÉSIR / A TALE OF LOVE AND DESIRE
(FR 2021, directed by Leyla Bouzid, 102 min, with German subtitles) – feature film
| Austrian premiere |
Ahmed, an introverted student gets to know Farah, a Tunisian literature enthusiast at the university in Paris. When the course on literature leads the two into the world of erotic poetry, Ahmed begins his sexual and cultural awakening. The eighteen year old finds new aspects of his Algerian background, and is simultaneously attracted by Farah and her openness. Searching for identity and intimacy, Ahmed must navigate through a maze of resisting, understanding, and longing, and questions that always return to the same answer: Farah, Farah, Farah … (Oliver Parsch, YAAAS! Young Programmer)
- YOUTH TOPIA (CH, DE 2021, directed by Dennis Stormer, 85 min, German OV) – feature film
| Austrian premiere |
In an alternative reality the so-called “Algorithm” decides when a person is deemed to be an adult, and the calculated perfect dream job is part of the deal. Wanja does not really care about that, as she lives her life defined by what is fun with her crew of professional youths away from the meritocracy – free from responsibilities and goals, full of likes on social media. But when she is deemed to be an adult from one day to the next, she is not only catapulted into professional life, but also finds herself trying to navigate the tension between privileges and duties, performance and aimlessness, adulthood and youth.
You can register for the YAAAS! school screenings from 3 March onward at yaaas@crossingeurope.at. Details, film descriptions, trailers, as well as school materials to prepare for and follow-up on the school screenings can also be found after 3 March on our website.
