Festival des Juniors

Le Festival des Juniors: Cinema at Children's Eye Level

Since the early 2000s, the Festival des Juniors has offered young viewers in the Yvelines a window onto cinema from around the world every spring. Supported by the association Plan Large, this young audience film festival unfolds in two neighboring towns: Verneuil-sur-Seine and Les Mureaux, taking over the Espace Maurice-Béjart and the Cinéma Frédéric Dard.

For a week, the festival presents a curated selection of films from around the world, original short films, documentaries, and animated works, chosen for their artistic quality and their ability to spark the curiosity of young viewers. The goal is ambitious: to help develop children's critical thinking about different cinematic forms and trends, by offering them works that go off the beaten path.

An Active and Participatory Festival

The Festival des Juniors is not limited to film screenings. It offers a rich and stimulating participatory component:

• Introductory workshops on filmmaking techniques: scriptwriting, makeup, set design, sound recording
• Short film competition: local teams create their own films, screened during the closing ceremony
• Youth jury: children and teenagers form a jury that awards the prizes, giving them a real voice and responsibility
• Exhibitions: thematic presentations related to cinema and visual arts
• Concerts and shows: complementary artistic entertainment

Plan Large, a Committed Association

The association Plan Large, based in Vernouillet, is the driving force behind the Festival des Juniors. Specializing in media education and cultural action, it works throughout the year with young people in the area to introduce them to filmmaking practices and develop their artistic sensibility. The festival is the culmination of this ongoing effort.

Strong Local Roots

The Festival des Juniors is part of a close partnership between the towns of Les Mureaux and Verneuil-sur-Seine. By using two cinemas and several cultural spaces in both towns, the festival builds bridges between different populations and neighborhoods, contributing to the social and cultural cohesion of the area.

A Springboard for Cinematic Discovery

Over the years, the Festival des Juniors has enabled thousands of young viewers to discover films they would never have seen otherwise: auteur cinema, foreign films in their original language, documentaries, experimental short films. This opening to the diversity of world cinema is the festival's hallmark and its essential contribution to the artistic education of young people in the Yvelines.