“La Parole aux Jeunes – Millenium se raconte”, the Mindchangers granted project run by Diogène ASBL was articulated in an original way before and during the Millenium Festival which took place from 5 to 13 May 2022 in Brussels.

Young directors of documentary films programmed at the festival were invited to participate in the radio programs. The team of young people, previously trained to look for themes and relevant speakers, selected a series of films dealing with the Sustainable Development Goals out of the entire festival programme.

The team of young people trained in audio-visual creation (shooting, editing, etc.) produced 5 special Festival radio programmes:

• Raising awareness on more sustainable food through cinema or market gardening. With Rémi Murez and Augustin Izoard, director and composer of « Le Constat de la crevette grise ».
• Showing the astonishment and disarray of young people in relation to capitalist society. With Noëlle Bastin & Baptiste Bogaert, directors of « On sourira de nous ».
• Depicting solidarity and hospitality towards migrants, undocumented people, homeless people. With Bas Van Hoeck, director of « Paradisiac ».
• Narrating exile, migration and family. With Hara Kaminara, director of « Lettre à Nikola » & Vida Dena, director of « My Paper Life ».
• Portraying climate commitment and struggle. With Frédéric Choffat, director of « Tout commence ».

In addition, young people who wanted to get even more involved during the festival had the opportunity to participate in the Millennium Festival Youth Jury. This year the Jury for the “Youth Vision Competition” was composed of 9 young people aged 18 to 25. One of the objectives of this jury was to give young people the opportunity to discover and deepen their knowledge of documentary cinema, as well as to debate and develop their critical thinking skills in the face of today’s world challenges. The deliberations focused as much on the cinematographic qualities as on the content and their perceptions of each selected film in order to determine the Youth Vision award. Finally, motivated young people were offered the opportunity to present films during the festival as well as moderate debates and Q&A sessions after the screenings.

The creation of the radio programmes is now on hold to allow the youth to focus on their studies and sit their exams. However, the young people who have been trained in the various techniques of video editing/capture/moderation or research of speakers/communication are now autonomous. The working groups that were articulated are still active and are now working on their own on the creation of content that they will record and publish after their respective exams and holidays.