A precarious start to a career for young European talents
In Europe, the audiovisual sector remains relatively small, accounting for only 3.8% of cultural employment. While the difficulties faced by young people vary according to national contexts, they share strong common features marked by precarity.
- Belgium: around 13,000 young people work mainly on short-term projects, often without stability or social protection.
- Italy: access to employment still relies heavily on informal networks, excluding those who do not have them.
- Hungary: major international productions favour foreign crews, limiting opportunities for local talent.
This situation is compounded by limited access to culture: in Italy, in 2021, only 16% of 18–24-year-olds went to the cinema, with even lower rates in rural areas.
BE UNIT – Supporting young people in developing skills through the organisation of a short film festival
The conference Improving young people’s employability in the audiovisual sector and their active citizenship marked the end of the BE UNIT project, co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union. Over a period of two years, the partners – Pour La Solidarité, Cooperativa ORSO, Epica Film and Galileo Progetti – trained and supported 45 young adults from Belgium, Italy and Hungary.
These young people received technical and professional training, which concluded with the organisation of the Moonstep Short Film Festival, held in Turin in September 2025.
Recommendations to strengthen young people’s cultural participation and facilitate access to audiovisual professions
Building on their experience in training young people, the partners of the BE UNIT project now present a policy advocacy document, co-created with the young participants themselves, which puts forward solutions and good practices to:
- reduce barriers to cultural participation;
- engage new audiences in film culture;
- use cinema as a tool to promote intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding;
- strengthen young people’s employability in the audiovisual sector.
