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The second edition of CineO’ – Film Festival in Hospital has concluded with touching and empowering ceremonies in both Croatia and Italy, proving once again that cinema can be a bridge between young people—even in the most challenging situations.

Held within pediatric hospitals, revalidation centres, and hospital schools, CineO’ enables children and youth to participate as active jurors in choosing the best European short films. Through online platforms children watched the films online and in person, then voted, debated, and celebrated together across borders.

🇭🇷 Croatian Ceremony – Zagreb, KBC Sestre milosrdnice

In Zagreb, the CineO’ team, led by Djeca susreću umjetnost, celebrated alongside children, parents, and hospital school staff.
🏆 Children’s Jury Award: “Koralji” (Italy)
🏆 Teachers’ Jury Award: “Ljeto iz svemira” (FKVK Zaprešić, Croatia)

Simona Sermazi received the award on behalf of the Croatian team and shared how the film was inspired by a summer without seaside trips—turning absence into creativity. Special thanks to Hrvatski filmski savez and the dedicated medical and educational teams.

🇮🇹 Italian Ceremony – Bari, Cinema Galleria, May 21

A joyful gathering took place at Cinema Galleria in Bari, where hospitalised children from local schools gathered for a special screening and debate program hosted by Rosa Ferro and teacher Angiola Piovani, supported by regional authorities and cultural educators.

🏆 Children’s Jury Award: “Coralli” (Italy)
🏆 Teachers’ Jury Award: “Coralli” (Italy)
🏆 Parents’ Jury Award:“Ljeto iz svemira” (FKVK Zaprešić, Croatia)

Dr. Ludovico Abbaticchio, Regional Guarantor for Children’s Rights, offered closing remarks highlighting the value of cultural participation for hospitalised youth.

CineO’ is more than a festival—it’s a platform of inclusion, creativity and empathy. Through carefully curated films, cross-cultural dialogue, and active engagement, we reaffirm that every child has the right to access and create culture, no matter their circumstances.

🌈 Thank you to all our partners in Italy and Croatia who make CineO’ possible.
#FilmInHospital #CineO #KidsMeetArt #InclusiveCinema #ChildrenHaveAVoice

After an uncertain competition, watching great films, discussions and voting, juries from Croatia and Italy have decided on the best. And this week they will announce their decisions to everyone. 🤩

We are eagerly awaiting the award ceremony:
🏅21.5., announcement of the winners of the Italian juries @ Cinema Galleria, Bari
🏅22.5., announcement of the winners of the Croatian juries @ KBC Sestre milosrdnice

CineO’ is a unique film festival in Europe that takes place within a hospital environment, in which hospitalized children and young people not only watch carefully selected films via the online platform filmubolnici.org and live in hospitals, but also participate as active members of the jury – together with parents, teachers and hospital staff. This innovative practice gives children and young people in vulnerable situations an equal voice in the creation of cultural content.

For those who haven’t had the chance to watch the films, don’t worry — the films are part of the Film in Hospital platform and are available to all hospitalized children and young people.

See you on the platforms! 🪄

We’re just a few days away from the new edition of Sweden’s BUFF, the festival that, together with us and Belgium’s JEF, launched the Film in Hospital platform and has been bringing fresh cinematic magic to children and young people across Europe for over 10 years.

The next edition is just around the corner, and the entire world of children’s and youth cinema will gather in Malmö, Sweden, to select the best of the best. Helping in this mission will be our very own Maja, the activity coordinator of the Film in Hospital project, who has the honor of being part of the ECFA jury at this year’s BUFF.

More updates on the winners coming soon, but until then, let’s follow BUFF on all platforms! 😊🎬

Pulica u kaputu, the winter program for children and young audiences organized by the Pula Film Festival and Kino Valli, once again made its traditional stop at the Film in Hospital platform and Pula General Hospital. Each year, our wonderful collaborator and Kino Valli program director, Nataša Šimunov, brings a touch of cinematic magic, and this year was no exception!

This time, Pulica u kaputu presented Todd and Super Stella, the latest winner of the ECFA Award for Best European Young Audience Documentary for Children. But that’s not all—the film was first screened in the pediatric ward of Pula General Hospital before a public screening at Kino Valli! With partners like these, spreading the magic of film is effortless.

For the next two months, the film will be available on filmubolnici.org for free to all hospitalized children and young audiences. Pulica u kaputu runs until March 9, 2025.

About the Film:

Stella hates anything she can’t do and dislikes things that hurt. It doesn’t help that her older brother, Todd, seems to excel at everything and always wants to compete. But being the biggest isn’t easy either—Todd is the slowest runner in his class and is too afraid to dive into the water. He tries to share his worries and fears with Stella, but she’s too young to understand. A humorous and heartfelt look at growing up, filled with fears, sibling rivalry, love, and failed ski trips.

The Film in Hospital project, organized by Djeca susreću umjetnost, is part of the Film in Hospital network through the Seventh Continent program.

Our European Film in Hospital family traditionally gathers twice a year, on our regular meetings, but we don’t miss a chance for a meet-up! This year’s Berlinale was one of those chances since most of partners came to see what’s new in the industry and to be inspired with films, people, energy and ideas.

Thanks to our German partners, Schlingel and its director, Michael Harbauer, we’ve had a productive meeting at the best location. One step closer in bringing film magic to hospitalized kids & youth all over the Europe!

Berlinale treated us well, looking forward to the next edition as well as to next opportunities to meet in person with Film in Hospital family.

The first training session for new Film in Hospital project collaborators was successfully held, organized by the association Djeca susreću umjetnost (Children Meet Art). The session was led by Edita Bilaver, president of the association and coordinator of the Film in Hospital project, alongside Marija Georgiev, program manager of the association; Maja Ogrizović, Film in Hospital program coordinator since 2023; Jana Šivak, program coordinator from 2014 to 2023; and Ana Marija Marinov, program facilitator and Film in Hospital administrator.

Participants were introduced to project workflows, relevant documentation, and essential materials to ensure a full understanding of the initiative. With this dedicated team, Film in Hospital is ready for new expansions, and the future couldn’t look brighter!

Jeugdfilmfestival Antwerpen or JEF is one of the founders of Film in Hospital consortium back in 2014. They have been bringing film magic to hospitals all over the Europe for more than 10 years alongside with BUFF (Sweden) and Kids Meet Art (Croatia). Consortium grew bigger and bigger — from Il Nuovo Fantarca (Italy), Kinodvor (Slovenia) & Pack Magic (Spain) to Schlingel Film Festival (Germany) and Neaniko Plano (Greece) which created Olympia Film Festival.
Besides bringing film magic all over the Europe, JEF has been creating film magic in Antwerp & Belgium, and 2025 edition is just around the corner! Spring break in Belgium means only one thing: the most enjoyable festival for youth films, games, and audiovisual experiments. For young and old, during school and leisure time.

JEF is a grassroots-driven festival which involves their target audience and festival partners in participatory processes: together, they work on a large and innovative festival that is socially relevant and, above all, fun. The youth film festival is the perfect family outing during spring break but those who start festival seson each year are teachers. In the weeks before spring break, the festival already starts for schools though providing experience of the unique festival atmosphere during school screenings in Antwerp, Ghent, and Leuven.

As they say — it is a mix of cinema experiences and a digital playground 🙂

Check it out and enjoy their beautiful programme: https://www.jeugdfilm.be/festival#over_jeugdfilmfestival_antwerpen

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!