THIRD KALAMATA CHILDREN'S AND TEENAGERS' FILM FESTIVAL

After two years of great success, the Kalamata Children's and Youth Film Festival is now an institution for the city of Kalamata. World-class children's and youth cinema returns to Messenia in March 2025. First-run, short, feature-length, animated and live-action films from around the world challenge children and teens from 3 to 18 years old to discover them with free admission.

The Kalamata Children's and Youth Film Festival (#kalyff) is an initiative of the New Filmhouse Kalamata Film Club and the organising committee, a multi-member group of volunteers, under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, Sports and Religious Affairs, with the support of the Municipality of Kalamata and FARIS - Public Benefit Corporation of the Municipality of Kalamata, and comes on an annual basis to promote global creative film production for children, adolescents and their families.

The purpose of the Festival is to entertain and shape our children and highlight the value of cinema as an essential element in strengthening their empathy.

This year, the festival "spreads" throughout the week, hosting a sizeable educational zone in the mornings, inviting schools, students and teachers to watch films according to their theme and age, but also giving them the necessary academic tools to utilise in the classroom. Approximately 1500 students from the city's Kindergartens, Elementary Schools, Middle Schools and High Schools are expected to be at the Kalamata Workers' Center Amphitheater, watching thematic units ranging from human rights and the environment to inclusion and diversity, highlighting the issues that children face in their interaction with their ecosystem.

The Festival's proceedings culminate on the weekend of March 15th and 16th, with screenings open to the city's public at the Kalamata Labour Centre amphitheatre. At the same time, national premieres such as the Oscar-winning FLOW and LIONESS await you, along with specialised academic sections. On Saturday night, the excitement peaks with the awarding of the A Little Adventure Student Competition awards, which will be accompanied by an original stand-up comedy for parents and children: the beloved Sofia Kliani, stand-up comedian, children's book author, coordinator of Parent School groups and entertainer, answers questions such as what it would be like if our parents were Roblox characters and what the name change ceremony is like from mom to bro.

The Festival closes with two fantastic screenings: on Sunday, March 16th, THE FANTASTIC JOURNEY OF MARONA will be screened from the IFcinéma digital film library of the French Institute, and in the afternoon, the women's volleyball teams of our city will meet for the screening of the excellent MIRACLE SEASON, which will be screened for the first time in our country.

Among the many actions of our Festival, it is worth mentioning our parallel screenings in other schools and organisations in Kalamata. The most important was the screening of the animated film FLOW, which recently won the Oscar for animation, at the Cultural Centre of the Municipality of Oichalia "Maria Kallas" at the initiative of the Dorio Elementary High School, which is also part of the Municipality of Oichalia. We are waiting for you all, young and old, at the celebration of cinema in our city.

Shhhhhh, Let's start!

"We want to entertain and inspire children and young people. We have chosen the freshest from the world's film production for the youth and children's audiences and have created a colourful and multidimensional programme. Our goal is - beyond entertainment - to open a discussion on issues such as children's rights, diversity, respect for otherness, tolerance, the power of girls, social and cultural differences, and family relationships."

FILMHOUSE / NEW KALAMATA CINEMA CLUB
full screening programme: https://www.filmhouse.gr/kalyff-2025-provoles/