'Yellow Flag' – Award for Contribution to Nonviolence on Film

On the 20th Youth Film Festival and 8th Four River Film Festival there is a debate about  'Should children’s and youth films contain scenes of verbal and physical violence?'

Youth Film Festival and Four River Film Festival in Karlovac have for six consecutive years awarded the Yellow Flag award which is an invitation to all the young film makers in the competition program to contribute to nonviolence through their films. The Yellow Flag will be awarded to authors from Croatia or abroad, who through their topics, stories, protagonists and creative solutions most successfully – and most consistently speak out about violence as a great affliction in society today, especially among young generations. A three-member jury comprised of three talented and successful high school students will decide on a film in this year’s YFF and FRFF competition that makes the best contribution to nonviolence through film. 

Before the Yellow Flag Award ceremony, the traditional debate on the topic of combating violence in society will take place also this June. This is a discussion between two groups of young people who will demonstrate their different point of views, experiences and thoughts, and by presenting a series of arguments, answer the main question: Should children’s and youth films contain scenes of verbal and physical violence? The exchange of opinions and arguments between young debate participants, as well as contributions of adult participants from public life, will help a three-member jury decide which film among the ones shown deserves the Yellow Flag Award and why. All the participants at YFF and FRFF will be able to observe the debate and Karlovac will this year become the youth film center as well as the center of the struggle against violence.

For the first time in Karlovac interaktivno predavanje Mediji i nasilje

For the first time in Karlovac in the program against violence in society an educational and interactive lecture on Media and violence will be held. It will take place before the debate and Yellow flag award ceremony. The lecture will be organized within the activities of the Society for communication and media culture (DKMK) and Project Kids of the Media. The aim of the lecture is to familiarize young people with the important topic in the field of media education - violence in the media. The lecture includes a theoretical overview of the most important concepts, relevant research results from Croatia and abroad, a number of examples and an overview of the different types of violent content in the media. The lecture deals with violence and its characteristics on television, feature and animated films, advertisements, sports, music and the Internet. With the characteristics of violent content in all the media, the lecture offers a set of guidelines and tips to recognize and prevent the harmful effects of violent media content as well as tips for responsible use of the media. The lecture is designed in such a way that it makes young people aware of the importance of recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of all the media and the importance of developing critical thinking towards media content that we face every day. With movies, talks, debates and the award, this year the program in Karlovac will give an important contribution to the fight against violence in society.

26.05.2015.