The programme of the festival is here! More than 170 films, opening with "Arco"!

The 12th TAURON Young Horizons International Film Festival is returning as a hybrid event. It will open with a screening of Arco, the winning film at this year’s Annecy. The programme is filled with premiere screenings, classic films, new sections, creative workshops, and meetings with filmmakers. The festival takes place from 26 September to 5 October, at cinemas in Warsaw, Wrocław, and 18 other Polish towns and cities. The online screenings will kick off on 9 October. You can buy your early bird pass now, and single tickets will be available soon.

The programme of the 12th TAURON Young Horizons IFF comprises 16 different sections, including 174 live-action, animated, and documentary films. The festival will open with the Polish premiere of Arco (read more) – a visually dazzling and delightfully colourful film, brimming with adventure and hope, and presenting difficult themes without oversimplification yet in a way that makes them accessible to young viewers. The animation won the Cristal Award for a Feature Film at the Annecy Festival, as a story of unusual friendship and a timeless lesson in solidarity. The film will enthral young and adult viewers alike, offering an emotional look into the future. The 12th TAURON Young Horizons Festival will close with an award ceremony accompanied by a screening of two silent films with live music: Dough and Dynamite and The Scarecrow (read more).

What’s on

As part of the Main Competition, you will be able to watch the most interesting productions from Poland and other countries. The best film will be selected by the jury members: Wojtek Wawszczyk, director, screenwriter, and animator; Tomasz Śliwiński, TV and radio host; and Marta Galewska-Kustra, educator, writer, and speech therapist. The audiences in Warsaw and Wrocław will also grant their award in this competition. Then, the jury members will choose the best film in the Documentary Competition and Discoveries Competition. In the latter, a jury panel composed of young cinema lovers will give their vote as well.

The competition sections are full of excellent productions, including: Little Amélie (read more), a visually and emotionally stunning animation that won the Audience Award at Annecy; The Songbirds’ Secret (read more), the latest animation from the famous Folimage studio that will take you on a journey in search of an old family secret, hidden in an rustic landscape; Space Cadet (read more), a melancholic, dialogue-free animation featuring Kid Koala’s music that will touch the deepest corners of your heart; Maya, Give Me a Title (read more), directed by Michel Gondry (known for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), the winner of this year’s Berlinale Crystal Bear in the Generation Kplus section, a film in which a father and a daughter create a collage made of stories, sparkling with imagination; and King Matt the First (read more), which premiered at this year’s Millennium Docs Against Gravity and the New Horizons Festival, a free-spirited, idyllic, and intimate expedition into the world of childhood.

There’s something for everyone

This year, we are entering the Kingdom of Anime to meet ghost cats, explore the depths of the ocean, and shed a tear while watching stories about courage, friendship, and family bonds. As part of this section, you will get to watch ChaO (read more), the latest production from Studio 4°C – a wild and wacky anime film like nothing you have seen before. There will also be some Studio Ghibli classics: My Neighbour Totoro (read more) and Kiki’s Delivery Service (read more). Be ready to stir your imagination with Julia Donaldson’s Stories and the characters from her books, such as the Gruffalo and Tiddler. The Green Fingers section brings a change in perspective, giving the floor to a sea otter, a mouse, and even dandelion seeds – in Dandelion’s Odyssey (read more), awarded at Annecy this year. At the festival, the protagonists of your favourite books come to life on the big screen – a treat for those who always have their Heads in the Books. What’s more, keep your Focus on Switzerland – a country bursting with magic and film discoveries. Let’s also move Between the Fjords – Films from Norway. This is a section where you get to visit the cold North of Europe, with its charming landscapes and gripping stories. Art lovers will enjoy the At the Museum section, organised at the National Museum in Warsaw. To make the 12th TAURON Young Horizons IFF even more accessible, we are offering a number of sensory-friendly screenings.

A treat for our regulars

Our Classics and Festival Favourites showcase the best productions recognised by the members of competition juries in recent years, and equally loved by the audiences. These sections include: JerryMaya’s Detective Agency. The Lost Mascot (read more); More About the Children of Noisy Village (read more); Into the Wonderwoods (read more), the winner of the Young Horizons Audience Award last year; and the director’s cut of the visionary Polish animation Diplodocus (read more).

Connecting generations

Coming of Age is our section addressing young people who enter adulthood seeking their own ways in life – and in film. If you are a parent, a guardian, or a teacher, already past your teenage years, you will enjoy the gems of this year’s New Horizons International Film Festival. Last but not least, alongside Timeless Film Festival Warsaw, we will give you a chance to rediscover film classics in the Timeless Stories section.

Beyond the screen

Like in previous years, you can choose from a series of exciting satellite events. We have invited numerous artists and educators to host post-screening debates and creative workshops. Some films will be accompanied by meetings with filmmakers and actors, or preceded by introductions prepared by film experts, journalists, and psychologists. The screenings within the New Horizons section will be supplemented with a round of discussions, organised in partnership with Newsweek Psychologia Nastolatka and Newsweek Psychologia Dziecka.

If you love new technologies, visit Zachęta – National Gallery of Art in Warsaw to explore the MediaLab – our interactive technology centre, open from 17 September to 5 October. There, you will dive into the world of film and virtual reality and learn to create your own games and apps with Coding Giants.

Passes and tickets

For the full festival programme, visit festiwal.mlodehoryzonty.pl. Below, you will find information about passes and tickets:

• To buy a festival pass, visit festiwal.mlodehoryzonty.pl. The early bird passes are available until 10 September.
• Tickets for single onsite screenings will be available from 11 September.
• You can buy the single tickets on the festival website, in the cinemas participating in the festival, and on their websites.
• Online festival: to buy single access tickets and passes for the online screenings, visit festiwal.mlodehoryzonty.pl.

Where and when?

The offline part of the Young Horizons Festival starts on 27 September and ends on 5 October. The films will be screened in Warsaw, Wrocław, and 18 other Polish towns and cities.

In Warsaw, you can find the festival in 9 venues:

• Kino Muranów (ul. gen. W. Andersa 5)
• Kinoteka (pl. Defilad 1)
• Kino Wisła (pl. Wilsona 2)
• Kino Ada (ul. ks. J. Chrościckiego 14)
• Kinokawiarnia Stacja Falenica (ul. Patriotów 44b)
• Dom Kultury Kadr (ul. W. Rzymowskiego 32)
• Sensorysie (ul. Różana 8)
• National Museum in Warsaw – At the Museum screenings
• Zachęta – National Gallery of Art (pl. Małachowskiego 3) – MediaLab