About us

Yeff! aims to promote youth involvement in modern media.

The network consists of partners in more than 10 European countries and is constantly growing. Every two years a Yeff! film forum takes place in a different European city. Young people from all over Europe are asked to produce films on the topic of cultural diversity and to present their work at the Yeff! forum. Participants are encouraged to reflect on their images in modern media, to learn how to represent their own realities and to present their visions to a broader public.

The purpose of Yeff! is:

  •  To offer a permanent forum that provides young people with tools for active citizenship in a plural European society by promoting media literacy.
  • To organise European-wide activities which strengthen youths in their creative expression through the making of moving images and intercultural dialogue.
  • To be inclusive and available to a wide range of people, and particularly support youths with less opportunities to participate.
  • To support the distribution of young people’s films on cultural diversity in order to give them the widest audience possible.
  • To support inter-professional exchange among media educators, youth workers and teachers in Europe.

Yeff!'s target groups:

  • Young Europeans (aged 15-25).
  • Media educators, filmmakers, youth workers, school teachers.
  • Media (TV, film festivals, internet platforms…).


Why selecting films on issues of cultural diversity?

We want to present the issues young people present in their films and their experiences of cultural diversity. We especially want to promote work from young people whose voices might normally be regarded as marginal and who don't have direct access to media institutions. We hope to discover a fresh body of work from new voices and reveal new truths from a spectrum of cultures across the new Europe.

The impact of media literacy

Young people experience film and TV as a means of communication within their everyday lives, but they are not restricted to being passive consumers. With access to affordable video production and postproduction equipment, they have the means to become empowered producers. Understanding media and films is promoted by practising filmmaking and experiencing television production.

Media Archives
 
There are two large media archives in our network. All Yeff!-films and much more on the topic of cultural diversity are filed here and can be ordered.
 
The RAA Berlin offers an extensive archive of printed and audiovisual media on topics around cultural diversity. Click here to browse through it (in German) or write to the RAA Berlin for more information (in English or German).
 
Kyrnéa offers a media archive in French. Write to Kyrnéa for more information.
 
To find out about archives and distribution in other countries, contact your national Yeff! agency. 

The Yeff!-Activities

The main Yeff! event is the film forum. It takes place in a different European country every two years. After Yeff! Berlin 2005, Yeff! France 2007 and Yeff! Sweden 2009 the next film forum is scheduled for Slovenia in 2011. The participants are chosen by national juries in each country. During the event, young people from all over Europe meet, show their films, visit workshops, shoot and edit together, and participate in debates with each other and with professional filmmakers. Sightseeing trips, parties and film screenings round off the program.

Between the forums, the network partners work with young people on national and local levels. They provide a learning environment which encourages technical expertise as well as social participation and cultural empowerment. The partners are consistently in touch with each other to plan further events. Workshops throughout the years will be offered on European level soon.

We are also constantly looking for more partners in Europe and we are planning smaller events for the years in between the large forums.

 

Information about Yeff! in other languages:

Deutsch      Français     Polski      Slovenščina