IndieJúnior Allianz 2021 rescheduled to May 19th-23rd

This year, IndieJúnior Allianz takes place between May 19th and 23rd. After being postponed, due to the general lockdown in January, we rescheduled our programme, keeping the programming for families at Casa das Artes, Maus Hábitos and Reitoria da Universidade do Porto. The kickoff of the festival’s 5th edition happens on May 15th at the Salão Nobre of the Reitoria da Universidade do Porto, with a special warm-up session. The school programme takes place in schools, throughout April and May, through a purpose-built online platform. 

In total, we will show around 50 films that align fun to cinema’s educational character, in a programme made up of a competition of feature and short films of recent production. Highlighted in the film line-up, Fritzi – A Revolutionary Tale (Ralf Kukula, Matthias Bruhn), an animation that portrays the times of divided Germany, winner of the Schools Price on this 2021 edition. Also in feature films, and winner of a honourable mention by the official festival jury, Alice Junior (Gil Baroni), a Brazilian film that follows the story of Alice’s first kiss, a young trans youtuber, while she sees herself forced to transfer to a school where old prejudices still rein. In short films, À La Mer Poussière (Héloïse Ferlay), awarded by the official jury, a touching story about family relationships and single parent families. Strong themes mark this year’s programme, with gender issues highlighted in GIRLSBOYSMIX, a documentary about an intersex child; death and the way we deal with it in To the Moon and Back, by Sara Kolster; the impacts of capitalism and of the society we live in in the equilibrium of the planet in Normal, by July Cat, and the balance of the ecosystems in the animation feature Bonjour le monde!, by Anne-Lise Koehler and Éric Serre. 

The line-up is completed with a special session at Maus Hábitos and a discussion around urgent environmental issues  (Não Há Planeta B), which takes place on May 19th, at 6pm, at Salão Nobre da Reitoria da Universidade do Porto, with the participation of elements from the organisation of the recent School Strike for Climate, Extinction Rebellion and Zero Waste Portugal. Continuing the work developed in November with the initiative Eu Programo Um Festival de Cinema (I programme a cinema festival), the online platform created by the festival will allow the running of cinema sessions in schools. Interested teachers can still sign up through indiejunior.com/escolasporto.