Young, combative - full of hope

Being young is both the best and the most difficult time of life, according to Charles Dickens' novel ‘A Tale of Two Cities’. That was in 1859, and Dickens' statement still holds true today. However, it has come to a dramatic head in view of the new, increasingly immense challenges facing today's young generation: of all people, the most digitally connected generation is living in possibly the most difficult times of all. Current crises are having an impact on everyday life, but also on the future of young people aged between 12 and 19, who are often seen as insecure, dissatisfied and pessimistic. And yet, despite everything, many of them are persistently confident and show themselves to be pleasantly resilient. The films in our collection ‘Young, combative - full of hope’ tell of the various stressful life circumstances for young people - and show that it can be possible to emerge stronger from existential crises in the end. Authentic, vibrant and stirringly intense, they describe young people's sensitivities between the present and the future. And they form a small journey around the world: They are set in London's Brixton district, in Paris and Skopje, in Ireland and Indonesia; we also follow the young protagonists to Indonesia, to the island of Jeju in South Korea, to Québec, Mexico, Santiago de Chile and the Atacama Desert. All of the films provide an extremely lively insight into the problems and worries, dreams, wishes and hopes of young people in this world. The youth films were shown as part of the youth series of the SCHLiNGEL International Film Festival for Children and Young Audiences. They will be available on filmfriend from 1 September.