TAURON Group partners with Young Horizons. New synergy for the 12th TAURON Young Horizons International Film Festival

Young Horizons IFF joins forces with TAURON Group, Poland’s largest energy holding company. This partnership marks the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the festival, combining the modern perspectives, experience, and energy of both parties. Learn more about the 12th TAURON Young Horizons International Film Festival!

Alongside the news about the partnership, we would like to share this year’s festival visuals with you. The new designs are just as lively and inspiring as the 12th TAURON Young Horizons IFF is going to be! The posters refer to the three generations that make up our audiences: from the youngest kids, through schoolchildren, to teenagers and young adults. Together, they create a harmonious story of exploring the world through cinema, from the perspective of various stages of childhood and adolescence.

Powering the future of young audiences

The partnership between the Young Horizons Festival and TAURON Group – the leader of the power industry in Poland – is a meeting of two different worlds which can naturally complement each other. On the one hand, there’s an event addressed to young audiences, filled with emotion, discovery, and imagination. On the other hand, there’s a brand that invests in culture and social development, supporting education and fostering engagement among local communities. For years now, TAURON has paved the future for the youngest generations by promoting a green approach, environmental awareness, and social responsibility.

Our goal is simple: we want to reach young audiences with quality films as effectively as possible. We believe that cinema can be a tool that fosters social change by provoking debate, exploring the unknown, and, ultimately, bringing people together. For us, the partnership with TAURON equals more opportunities and a wider outreach: a new ability to power culture and development. Together, we wish to inspire young audiences and create more space for culture, says Maciej Jakubczyk, Director of Young Horizons.

Cinema has a great power to change the world. TAURON supports the Young Horizons International Film Festival to inspire young people to take action to protect our planet. Our presence at the festival is an excellent opportunity to shed more light on important subjects related to renewable energy resources and sustainable development. This is in line with our overall strategy: TAURON intends to achieve climate neutrality by 2040. Cinema is one of the key channels that can help us reach young viewers nowadays, and we want to use its power, says Grzegorz Lot, President of the Board at TAURON Polska Energia S.A. 

What’s on the programme? Quality films for everyone

The 12th TAURON Young Horizons IFF will take place on 26 September – 5 October in Warsaw, Wrocław, and 18 other Polish towns and cities. Following last year’s success, when the festival attracted a record number of 68,000 viewers, we’re coming back with another edition: full of unique screenings, meetings with filmmakers, and other attractions for families of cinema lovers. From 9 to 26 October, selected elements of the programme will be available online as well, at festiwal.mlodehoryzonty.pl. The festival will be accompanied by Young Horizons Industry: an international co-production forum for film and series projects targeting young audiences (from 29 September to 1 October in Warsaw).

This year’s programme is made up of more than 170 titles, including many films from the recent festivals in Berlin, Cannes, and Annecy. Our audiences will be the first to watch them in Poland. Like in previous years, the programme will be divided into several sections presenting live-action films and series, animations, and documentaries, says Kamila Tomkiel-Skowrońska, Director of the Young Horizons Festival. Since the very first edition of the festival, we have invited everyone to join us and watch quality films that carry important messages and open the door to the world. It doesn’t matter how old you are! This year’s programme is meant to address a wide range of audiences as well: from the youngest viewers, setting off on their cinematic adventures, through schoolchildren, to young adults, Kamila emphasises.

The competition sections are regular elements of the festival programme. The Main Competition presents the most interesting productions from Poland and other countries, most of which have not been distributed theatrically in Poland yet. The best film of the festival will be selected not only by the jury but also by the audience in Warsaw. The jury members will also vote for the best film in the Documentary Competition and Discoveries Competition. It has now become tradition that in the latter competition, the jury of young cinema lovers gives their vote as well.

The programme is made even more versatile thanks to the anime section: these Japanese films have met with huge interest and have attracted viewers of all ages for many years now. There will be several new sections as well, including At the Museum: in cooperation with the National Museum in Warsaw, we have prepared a selection of films and activities that invite young people to interact with art and history.

Post-screening workshops, meetings, and the MediaLab

We believe that quality films help our audiences learn more about the world. Just like every year, we support them in this respect by adding even more to the programme: meetings with film creators and actors, introductions to screenings prepared by educators, and creative workshops and activities. Another integral part of the festival is the MediaLab: an interactive technology centre. This year, it will be located at Zachęta – National Gallery of Art in Warsaw. MediaLab is a space where education meets innovation – where young people and their adult companions can explore the world of digital tools and VR. The space will be open to visitors from 17 September to 5 October.

Poster: a still from Miss Moxy; dir. Vincent Bal, Wip Vernooij; The Netherlands, Belgium, 2025
Poster: a still from The Mountain; dir. Rachel House; New Zealand, 2024
Poster: a still from Bird; dir. Andrea Arnold; Germany, France, USA, UK, 2024