September 25, 2023 | Monday
The International Documentary and Short Film Festival in Kosovo, more commonly known as Dokufest, stands as a centerpiece in Kosovo’s cultural calendar. This year, the festival bolstered its educational offerings by introducing two distinctive animation workshops within the DokuKids segment: Animadoc and the Stop Motion Animation Workshop. Both workshops received support from the European Union and align with the EU’s overarching commitment to promote skill development in the youth.
From August 6-9, Animadoc catered to teenagers aged 14-17. This workshop, organized in collaboration with the European Union and Europe House Kosovo, aimed to merge the realms of documentary and animation. Under the guidance of Tomas Dobruska, Nazli Dobruska, and Gizem Tonbak, participants had the opportunity to craft genuine documentary footage using frame-by-frame animation techniques.
The primary objective was to acquaint these young individuals with innovative storytelling techniques and offer fresh perspectives. Their efforts culminated in films that were displayed to a wider audience on DokuFest’s closing night, August 12th.
Concurrently, the Stop Motion Animation Workshop was available for children aged 10-14. Led by Nikola Majdak and Ana Nedeljkovic, this workshop took roughly 30 participants on a journey through the intricate process of creating an animated short film.
For the participants, this wasn’t merely a playful diversion. It was an immersion into the creative process, from ideation to its realization in the form of a film. They were introduced to the essentials of the stop motion animation technique and the Dragon Frame software. They also experimented with various materials and shared their perspectives on their surroundings.
Children, specifically those aged 8-12, collaborated in groups of six or seven, co-creating animations while grasping the nuances of filmmaking. Roles varied — some delved into photography, while others operated cameras, leading to the production of a mini film set.
The workshops culminated in the creation of four one-minute short films, each presented on the festival’s closing night.
Beyond enhancing the festival’s appeal, these workshops resonated with the broader theme of this year’s DokuFest: “I AM AI AM I.” This theme sought to explore the complexities of artificial intelligence and the intricacies of human consciousness.