Florianópolis Children’s Film Festival

Known for its beaches, Florianópolis, in southern Brazil, hosts the most important event in the country when it comes to movie and children. Aimed at social inclusion and citizenship building through the cinema, Florianópolis Children’s Film Festival is moving forward each year and already is a reference in other continents.

The Florianópolis Children’s Film Festival exhibits films from Brazil and other different countries, which “increases the tendency of the event to be a window of the world cinema made for the children’s public”, according to Luiza Lins, director of the film festival.

Luiza Lins

Luiza da Luz Lins was born in Santa Catarina, Brazil. She studied Social Communication at PUC-RJ and graduated from Casa das Artes de Laranjeiras (CAL). She worked as an actress on the children’s program Revistinha on TV Cultura in São Paulo, as a professional voice actress at Álamo SP, and in several theater plays. She also served as an executive producer on documentaries related to education and culture. She participated in the creation of the National Childhood Culture Forum.

In 2002, Luiza founded Lume Produções Culturais and conceived and organized the first International Children’s Film Festival in Florianópolis, a pioneering event in Brazil that promotes social inclusion, education through cinema, and the development of children’s cinema in the country. The 23rd edition of the event is currently in production. She was president of Cinemateca Catarinense – ABD/SC and was part of the curatorial team for children’s films content at Programadora Brasil/MINC for three years. She is also a screenwriter, director, and producer of three short films for children, two of which won the “Curta Criança” award from the Ministry of Culture (MinC), and one received the Catarinense Cinema Award.

She participated in the Commission established by the MinC and MEC to study the implementation of Law No. 13.006, which mandates the screening of two hours of Brazilian cinema per month in schools. Luiza also produced the Children’s Cinema Circuit in Santa Catarina and in other cities in the country, and curates the programming for the Children’s Cineclube in Florianópolis. She was a local producer for the Cinema and Human Rights Exhibition and received the MinC Pontinho de Cultura Award for her work in promoting and circulating Brazilian children’s films throughout the country. She established partnerships with international festivals (in Sweden, Denmark, and Iran) to strengthen children’s cinema in Brazil. Additionally, she organized the Southern Region Creative Industry Meeting – Animation, Games, and Children’s Content, and the International Children’s Audiovisual Market (MIF.KIDS). She is currently the vice-president of the Brazilian Festivals Forum, and a member of the Superior Cinema Council.

Mif.Kids 2022 – the International Kids Content Market of Florianópolis

Mif.Kids 2022 – the International Kids Content Market of Florianópolis is designed to present, develop, negotiate, manage and distribute film & TV content for the children’s media industry in Brazil. For this edition, we embrace childhood and its storytelling universe by imaginatively expanding the diversity of visual repertoires. All creators, producers and players participating in this edition must commit to guaranteeing that new film & TV content will create meaning for the large, diverse population of Brazilian children.

From 2006 to 2012, these Market Encounters were hosted by the Florianópolis Children’s Film Festival, in a partnership between Luiza Lins and Carla Esmeralda, eventually giving birth to the Mif.Kids concept. On the basis of the 2021 Encounters, we created Mif.Kids – the International Kids Content Market of Florianópolis. For 2022, Paulo Barata joins Mif.Kids as an associate producer. Barata has 23 years of experience in pay TV and collaborates on the event as a curator and speaker. READ MORE ABOUT MIF.KIDS »

Latin America net

In Latin America, the event in Florianópolis has a close relationship with festivals that encourage children and adolescent films. Since 2008, the festival is part of Rede Ciniño, Association of Latin American film festivals for children and young people. The association joins the events that consider the movie an art capable of dealing with the diversity of language appropriate to children and young audience, combining education, culture and leisure.

Social Cinema with junior jury

Around 140 thousand children from schools shall be free to share Florianópolis Children’s Film Festival. The consideration of social accessibility is part of the purpose of the event. “It is a unique chance for these children know, first, the feeling of going to the movies, and also watch good films that are not available in any movie theater,” says Luiza Lins. To strengthen the children’s role, this year Best Film of Competitive Exhibition, which this year presents 72 short films from Brazil, will be chosen by a jury consisting of children and adolescents.

In addition to competitive shows, workshops and concerts, the festival features short and feature film sessions invited from various countries, and also holds the National Meeting of Children’s Cinema and the Forum on Cinema and Education. Held 20 years ago, the Children’s Festival is one of the main windows for launching films dedicated to childhood and youth and is decisive for the development of the sector.

For more information, contact us by e-mail lllins@uol.com.br or by phone +55 48 999806908.