The stories carry on after the credits.

A good film leaves room for questions.

Why did the character choose to do that? What would the story look like told by someone else? What made us laugh, made us afraid, or made us root for someone? At BKFF, children's curiosity has room in the auditorium.

Through screenings, conversations and workshops, we want to give them ways to make sense of the images they meet every day. Discovering how music changes a scene, how a frame guides our attention, and how the same event can be told in several ways.

ON SCREEN

Stories and characters from different cultures, chosen for a young audience, with a particular openness to European film.

IN CONVERSATION

The chance to explain an opinion, listen to a different point of view, and talk with the people who make films.

IN THE WORKSHOP

First steps in animation, scriptwriting and filming, through exercises children can understand and try.

Five days for the next discoveries.

We are preparing a new edition with films for children, workshops and encounters that make the cinema experience closer and easier to grasp. The second edition's programme is in preparation.

Films entering competition.

The plan for 2026 includes feature and short film competitions, an international jury and continued collaboration with ECFA. We aim for a selection of around 55 films from 15 countries; titles and guests will be announced along with the programme.

Children try their hand at filmmaking.

The proposed workshops range from stop-motion and 2D animation to building a story and filming on a phone. We are working on a format where professionals' explanations are followed by concrete exercises, pitched for children.

The audience has a say too.

The second edition is set to include the award for best film, the ECFA award and an audience award chosen by the children's vote. The rules and eligible films will accompany the final programme.

From Bucharest, in dialogue with European cinema.

The first edition included an international short film competition and a jury made up of Libor Pixa, Iris Verhoeven and Radu Potcoavă. The Czech focus brought FAMU films and the animation Hungry Bear Tales, through the collaboration with the Czech Centre.

ECFA, the European Children's Film Association, presented BKFF's debut within its own network. In the article, Mihai Mănescu spoke about education through cinema and about choosing Cinema Europa as home for the first edition.

What Susțin does.

Susțin builds the framework in which the festival can happen: it brings together people from film and education, partners and volunteers, prepares the audience's experience and coordinates the organisation. From welcoming a school class to running a workshop, every contribution helps the story reach children.

BKFF connects two of the association's directions: access to culture and learning by doing. The first edition grew around Cinema Europa, a place where the Susțin community brings different generations into the same room.

We want the experience to continue after the festival.

We aim to develop a few simple tools: a young cinephile's passport where children keep their impressions, conversation sheets for teachers, and short filming exercises that can be tried with everyday resources.

These are directions we want to test together with educators and the festival's partners. In the longer term, we want BKFF to become an annual meeting between children and film, and a point of support for film education between editions.