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We have been thinking about an Online Film in Hospital festival for the last few years since we wanted to have an activity held at the same time in all (or just many 🙂 hospitals whom we cooperate with. But it was not as easy as we thought it would be 🙂 But we found a way to — start! So, we did a national version, let even say a trial version — Online Film in Hospital held in Croatia and it was — beautiful!

But we wanted to make it special so we’ve invited Iwa Dugač, directress of The Children’s Rights Festival, a prominent festival which puts focus on children in several ways among which we foung most interesting is — their film programme. We’ve gathered 20 participants from 4 cities: Pula, Rijeka, Zagreb and Ivanec and presented one of the films from this year’s programme and celebrated International children’s day!

The European family of the Film in Hospital project gathered in Ljubljana in the premises of the Kinodvor and Kinoteka. For the next 3 days, we will think about project development, ideas, inspire each other and create new opportunities to bring movie magic to hospitals across the EU.

We are looking forward to new ideas, opportunities and movie magic 🙂

Film in Hospital is an international project and platform that wants to grant hospitalized children and youth with reduced mobility the experience of a film festival and the access to exclusive quality films and educational content.

Recently, Creative Europe MEDIA approved the implementation of the Film in Hospital project for two more years. By expanding with two new international partners, and focusing on the integration of digital AV tools, Film in Hospital sets its sights higher than ever! From now on Film in Hospital will be available in 8 European countries. All of which is a great way to celebrate International Children’s Day and Global Day of Parents.

NEW FUNDS AND FRESH FACES
Starting from May 2024, the pan-European Film in Hospital project is again supported by European MEDIA funds for two years.
The team* behind the program is happy to announce they are expanding: Schlingel Festival (Germany) and Neaniko Plano (Greece) join the strive to grant children in hospitals and revalidation centers access to exclusive, festival-quality films, educational materials and digital AV tools.

* JEF (Belgium), DSU — Kids meet art (Croatia), Il Nuovo Fantarca (Italy), Kinodvor (Slovenia), Pack Màgic (Spain) and BUFF (Sweden)

THE FILM IN HOSPITAL PLATFORM
The European project Film in Hospital is still dedicated to bringing high-quality contemporary and heritage EU films – accompanied by educational materials, workshops and games – to children and youth at hospitals, revalidation centres and home recovery.
Trusting the power of great films to engage children & youth in dialogues with ideas; developing participatory pedagogical tools to engage them into dialogues of equals; curating a film collection that goes beyond national frames and encourages knowledge of the other; Film in Hospital brings the best practices of Film Literacy and Audience Development to an audience that is excluded from festivals, school or family cinema visits.
Film in Hospital aims to heal with art by nurturing the spirit. Which has been scientifically proven through recently conducted research on methods for engaging young audiences in health-care structures by Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (Milano – Italy), co-designed with Il Nuovo Fantarca – Cinema in Ospedale and other project partners. It has been released as a valuable resource meant to support the recovery of children and youth.

THE FILM IN HOSPITAL GOALS
The main goal of Film in Hospital continues to be: to give ill children in hospitals and revalidation centers access to exclusive quality films and educational content and grant them the experience of an international film festival.

Additionally for the upcoming two years, Film in Hospital wants to reach a coverage of 8 EU territories and lay a technological and business model base for further expansion to evolve to an indispensable service for children’s hospitals.
Following project activities in previous editions and constant development of digital tools, Film in Hospital also decided to focus even more on innovative, collaborating and co-creating areas. Digital tools like Virtual Reality and online games will be adapted and tailored to better meet the needs of children in vulnerable situations and to further enhance audience engagement experience.

THE FILM IN HOSPITAL HISTORY
The initial project started over ten years ago, but was internationally launched in 2017 when DSU, BUFF and JEF created three national platforms dedicated to film screenings and audience engagement for children at hospitals. In 2020, three new partners joined the project: Il Nuovo Fantarca, Pack Màgic, and Kinodvor. Since then, these six national platforms represent a valuable digital distribution of selected quality European Children’s films for young audiences in hospitals with limited access to pleasure and relaxation.

THE FILM IN HOSPITAL LEGACY
In 2023, Italian partner Il Nuovo Fantarca monitored a research with the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan about audience engagement. The outcomes and findings will be used in the further development of the project alongside the developed guide — a toolbox of good practices. This will make the film magic even more available to vulnerable children and youth in hospitals and revalidation centres across the EU. Newly made video on best practices and research serves as a motivation for new collaborators, partners and associates, to everyone with whom the Film in Hospital team will bring film magic to everyone in need.

A guide with a wide range of high-quality content, concrete information and practical advice as well as possible results that can help you during your journey with children and young people in hospitals.

With this guide, we want to reach a very wide audience, because everyone can contribute to the wellbeing of children and young people – artists, teachers and educators, medical staff, researchers and policy makers.

It includes a collection of very diverse examples of good practices developed and implemented by the partners of the Film in Hospital international project for children and young people in hospitals.

Implementation of cultural and artistic projects in hospitals is specific. Each day is characterised by particular medical examinations and procedures in different wards. Children’s physical, mental and emotional wellbeing can vary from day to day. Sometimes the morning does not match the evening. However, despite specific circumstances, such projects and activities yield extraordinary positive effects in hospitals: for both children and young people, their parents as well as all other employees who take care of health and wellbeing of young patients.

You can read this guide from the beginning to the end or the other way around. You can take a little here and a little there. Make it suitable, up-to-date and relevant for your context.

The guide in English (pdf) »

Photo: Karolina Maruszak (Belgium)

February means festival-time for the Belgian Film in Hospital partner; JEF! We bring this festival feeling to all platforms of all partners. Our 10 selected short films in competitions are to be watched a whole year long in all participating hospitals and revalidation centers. And moreover, Belgian viewers become jury members. They vote for their favorite short film and hand out the JEF in the hospital award.
This year (2024), the winning short film is…. Princess Aubergine by Dina Velikovskaya (Germany).
Congrats Dina! Go watch the short film on one of our platforms.

Il Nuovo Fantarca (Italian partner) and the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore ran in 2022/2023 a research activity aimed at investigating the main elements of the Film in Hospital experience in order to provide each partner of the project with useful indicators to optimise the composition of the catalogue of titles on the platform.

To this aim, the research project identified the following objectives:

1) Survey the general conditions of the experience of viewing audiovisual products on the platform.

2) Identify the elements that qualify the fruition of audiovisual products on the platform from the point of view of its functions and capacity for involvement.

3) Relate these qualifying elements to the titles and, more generally, to the entire catalogue offered by the platform.

Are you interested in reading the full research report? Click in the tab ‘research’ and download the full report.

In honour of Children’s art day on the 19th of November, the Film in Hospital team presents you our brand new promotion video!

Special thanks to:

All participating partners, Creative Europe Media, Klinički bolnički centar rijka, Skånes Universitets-sjukhus, Vall d’Hebron, UZ Leuven and Ospedale Pediatrico Giovanni XXIII.

Siren’s Tail (es: Cua de sirena) is a Spanish stop-motion short film with no dialogue, directed by Alba Barbé i Serra about Roque. Roque is disoriented because he was told that he was a human and that he could become a siren. He didn’t understand why it was one thing that had to become another. Also forever! One thing or the other. Black or white. Meat or fish. Boy or girl. Human or siren… Discover its trailer here and watch the film on all Film in Hospital platforms!

https://weirdmarket.es/en/

Egon the Hat (sl: Egon Klobuk) is a Slovenian animated short film with no dialogue, directed by Igor Šinkovec about a young boy named Egon who expresses his feelings and emotions through his hat that consequently changes its color and shape, which helps us guess Egon’s mood and anticipate reactions. Watch the film on all Film in Hospital platforms!