Three teenagers from Chisinau served on the jury of the fifth edition of the SALAM International Children and Youth Film Festival, held in Baku, Azerbaijan. Together with fellow jurors from Azerbaijan, Turkey, Indonesia and Poland, they watched and evaluated films in the international competition, helping determine the festival’s winners.
The SALAM Festival brought together around 440 children and teenagers, film industry professionals and international delegations from Indonesia, Turkey, Poland and the Republic of Moldova. The competition featured films from Indonesia, Sweden, China, Russia, Poland, the United States and Azerbaijan, exploring themes such as friendship, courage, inclusion and overcoming obstacles.
Moldova was represented by Laura-Sofia Scobioală, Bianca Morari and Alexandra Muntean. A distinctive feature of the SALAM Festival is that its competition jury consists exclusively of children and teenagers. They watch all the competing films, discuss them together and decide which productions deserve the festival’s awards. Participants also had the opportunity to meet the directors and actors behind the films screened at the festival.
The experience went beyond watching films. As part of the CINEMARATHON program, participants worked in international teams to produce their own short films, going through every stage of the filmmaking process — from developing an idea and writing the script to filming and editing.
This year’s theme, “A stranger among their own, one of their own among strangers,” challenged the young filmmakers to explore questions of belonging, identity and integration through cinema. The films they created were screened on the big screen on the festival’s final day.
The program also included educational activities for the international jurors. At the Nine Senses art center in Baku, participants took part in a photography workshop based on the “Frozen Light” technique as part of the festival’s cultural and educational program.
“For our young people, this was above all an encounter with other cultures. They sat in the same room with jurors from Azerbaijan, Turkey, Indonesia and Poland, saw how everyone reacted to the same film, and left with more questions than they had when they arrived. Curiosity is perhaps the most valuable thing a festival can offer,” said Sergiu Scobioală, coordinator of the Moldovan delegation.
At the closing ceremony, the award for Best Feature Film went to the Indonesian film Tegar, directed by Anggi Frisca. The Special Jury Prize was awarded to the Azerbaijani production Akinak, directed by Elkhan Jafarov. The Special Organizers’ Award went to the Polish film Oskar, Patka and the Baltic Gold, directed by Magdalena Nieć and Mariusz Palej.
The SALAM International Children and Youth Film Festival is organized by Narimanfilm studio with the support of Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Culture and the Cinema Agency (ARKA). It is one of the region’s major film events dedicated to children and teenagers.
The participation of the Chisinau delegation in the SALAM International Film Festival was part of a project implemented by the Creative Media Studio Public Association. The project received financial support through the Chisinau Municipal Co-Financing Program for youth projects and initiatives, projects supporting the civic sector, promoting volunteering and institutional partnerships, implemented by the General Directorate for Education, Youth and Sports of the Chisinau Municipal Council.