The future: youngsters at work. The new projects for the new festivals

The need for the education of young authors in the field of animation arose spontaneously, as a logical consequence of the existence of the Festival of Animation. It was in June 1998 that CentAF – Centre for Animated Film was established in the Čačak Cultural Centre.

The educative and pedagogical work around the activities of the children’s animation projects was started under the expert supervision of the animation teacher Miroslav Simonović, head of the Vranje school of animated film. The same teacher helped the organisation of the next workshop, held in December of the same year. The work with the youngsters was continued in the summer of 1999, under the supervision of Blagoje Lupa, animator and film artist from Belgrade. Since 2004, the animation teacher in CentAF has been Vladimir Stanić, another Belgrade-based animator and film artist. Since it was started, the Centre has trusted its activities to the successful coordination of Slobodan Pajić.

The participants of the animated film workshops are students of elementary and high schools in Čačak. In many ways, the students have grown and developed together with their CentAF. Working on their first animations, bringing their drawings to life, the young artist from Čačak were entering the magic world of animated film step by step, building up their own artistic handwriting. With the first films, they also began to appear at national and international film festivals, sometimes receiving a lot of praise form the juries, and receiving awards, some of which include:

• Film "Drifter" – Award for best idea

2002 - Belgrade:  32nd Show of Yugoslav Children’s Film

• Film "Fisherman" – Award for best director
  
• Film "Crazy Olympiad" – 2nd place for best film
  
• Award for the best club / school of animation

2003 - Bologna:  Festival of Children’s films “Kids For Kids"

• Film "Wheel" – place in the finals (over 400 films entered the Festival, and the "Wheel" was short-listed among the 40 best films!)

2004 - Athens:  Festival of Children’s films “Kids For Kids"

• Film "Colour" – award for the best film given by the expert jury in the category "Animation 13 – 16 years"

2005 - Naples:  Festival of Children"s films “Kids For Kids"

• Film "Labyrinth" – award for the best film given by the expert jury in the category "Animation 13 – 16 years",
• Film "Line" – in the Festival’s final selection,
• Film "Got’im" – in the Festival’s final selection,

2006 - Beograd:  Festival “Balkan Kids For Kids"

• Film "Closing Time" – award for the best film given by the expert jury in the category "Animation 13 – 16 years"
• Film ‘It’s a Wonderful World" – award for the best film given by the expert jury in the category "Animation 13 – 16 years",

2006 - Beograd:  Show of Childrens Film in Serbia and Montenegro

• Film "Closing Time" – GRAND PRIX for the best film,
• Award for the best club / school of animation.

The Centre for Animated Film of the city Cultural Centre in Čačak keeps on working on new projects, for some new reviews and festivals. At the same time, the Centre is actively working on the preparation of premises and equipment for new animation techniques.