The 47th edition of LUCAS Film Festival, organized by the DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum, ended on Friday with a festive awards ceremony. PUFFIN ROCK AND THE NEW FRIENDS, WE GROWN NOW and THE OTHER SON received awards as the best international feature-length films for young audiences. The short film THE STORM IN HER HEART was honored with the award for outstanding cinematic achievement. The prizes for the best short films go to GAME RULES in the Competition »Kids« and GIRL NO. 60427 in the Competition »Teens«. Festival director Julia Fleißig congratulated the award winners at the DFF Cinema.
Award-winning films in the Feature Film Competitions
Competition »Kids«
Award for the Best Short Film (2,000 €)
GAME RULES (SE 2024. D: Christian Zetterberg)
Theo’s handball team prefers to play as a mixed team. But at the big tournament, the sexes are strictly segregated and Theo has to fit in. When the opposing coach lodges a complaint, success and dignity are at stake.
Statement of the Jury Competition »Kids«
Always sticking to the rules does not do justice to every situation. In the handball tournament, the players are separated by gender. This cannot reflect the broad spectrum of identities. The main character, Theo, navigates between his own identity and social expectations. The film manages to make a complex topic tangible and precisely show a situation in which the right action is not immediately clear. What is fair? Ultimately, the team doesn’t want to play by the rules and stands up for Theo.
Award for the Best Feature Film (5,000 €)
Donated by Sparkassen-Kulturstiftung Hessen-Thüringen
PUFFIN ROCK AND THE NEW FRIENDS (GB/IE 2023. D: Jeremy Purcell)
Every year, puffins from all over the world flock to the small island of Puffin Rock off the Irish coast. This time, Isabelle is one of the new arrivals. Because her home island is no longer habitable, she and her family have had to leave it for good. Nevertheless, she is immediately entrusted with an important task: to guard an egg. But it suddenly disappears without a trace. And then a violent storm hits. This animated film tells a very gentle story of friendship and solidarity, but also of experiences of flight and belonging.
Statement of the Jury Competition »Kids«
First of all, we would like to praise all the films we have seen! They are all special and we had a great time at the movies with this competition. The movie that finally made it to the top made important and complicated topics clear for the youngest audience. Friendships have to be nurtured, it’s hard to lose your home and find your feet all alone, mistakes can happen, but you have to stand by them. Our favorite PUFFIN ROCK tells all this in an exciting, harmonious and comprehensible way, not only for the youngest, but also for us — in a wonderful animation style.
Competition »Teens«
Special Mention Short Film
ALONE TOGETHER (IR 2024. D: Omid Mirzaei)
The breath catches, the pulse beats up to the throat: row after row, a policeman checks the bus passengers at the border with Iran. Among them is a ten-year-old boy, apparently traveling alone. An incriminating find forces him into interrogation.
Statement of the Jury Competition »Teens«
As a jury, we have taken it upon ourselves not to award ‘honorable mentions’ lightly. The child actor in particular amazed us. From the very first scene, you could identify with him through his acting. We were quickly drawn into a different reality; that of a little boy in a difficult situation. Themes such as justice, responsibility and family are portrayed and conveyed through the characters, making the movie relevant to the world.
Award for the Best Short Film (2.000 €)
GIRL NO. 60427 (IL 2022. D: Shulamit Lifshitz, Oriel Berkovits)
– German Premiere at LUCAS –
Reut finds a secret drawer in which a diary is hidden. It belongs to her grandmother. When Reut reads it, her vacation with her grandmother turns into a formative experience and her relationship with her changes forever.
Statement of the Jury Competition »Teens«
We give the award for the best short film to a very touching and important movie. We liked the way it was animated. They showed that the terrible past should open our eyes and that we need to talk and inform ourselves about the history of the Holocaust. The movie draws you in from the very first minute. All the jury members agreed that this film should receive an award.
Award for an Outstanding Cinematic Achievement (2,000 €)
THE STORM IN HER HEART (CN 2024. D: Yibei Li)
– German Premiere at LUCAS –
The summer vacation awakens a sea of emotions in Xiaoyue. While she looks nostalgically at the river surrounded by cliffs as a familiar place of relaxation, feelings of lust awaken. A confusing relationship develops with one of her father’s clients: magical, but also dangerous.
Statement of the Jury Competition »Teens«
We defined the requirement for this award as a special achievement in terms of audiovisual storytelling, i.e. in the areas of aesthetics, technology and cinematography; what you see, feel and hear. One movie caught our eye. Although there was hardly any dialogue, the film has great meaning and tells the story of a young person starting a new life after being belittled and undermined. The film deals with themes of change, independence and equality. Close-ups and their color palettes make you feel like you’re watching a poem. The subjects were detailed, which made us feel immersed in the movie.
Award for the Best Feature Film (5,000 €)
WE GROWN NOW (US 2023. D: Minhal Baig)
– German Premiere at LUCAS –
Learning to fly. Not so easy when you grow up in the Cabrini-Green housing project, a social hotspot in Chicago. While Michael Jordan becomes a world-famous star in the summer of 1992, friends Eric and Malik dream of a promising future. But how can you learn to fly when the world wants to shackle you? And what happens to a friendship when one of the two friends suddenly has to move away?
Statement of the Jury Competition »Teens«
For us, there was a feature-length film that convinced us on all levels. It tells an emotional story about a friendship between two boys that develops in a bad time in a bad place and confronts them with various trials. The movie deals with themes such as following one’s dreams, identity, origin and independence from parents. We were also impressed by the cinematography, set design and other levels of filmmaking. We think that the key points of the movie are very well realized and important for teenagers.
Competition »Youngsters«
LUCAS »Youngsters« Award (5,000 €)
THE OTHER SON (CO/AR/FR 2023. D: Juan Sebastián Quebrada)
– German Premiere at LUCAS –
Young, free and intoxicated, Simón, his brother Federico and his clique are on their way to a party. But the exuberant party ends in disaster and nothing is as it was: Simón is dead. How should Federico deal with this loss? He would prefer everything to go on as normal. Only Laura, his brother’s ex-girlfriend, seems to understand him. Slowly, the two grow closer.
Statement of the Jury Competition »Youngsters«
It was very difficult to choose one movie as the winner, not only because they are so different, but also because they are all so great. In the end, we chose this movie because the story felt so real and the topic is so relevant to our age group. After watching the movie and hearing the backstory in the film talk with the director, we felt so connected to the characters’ feelings and experiences. The actors were incredible and the filming was unforgettable.
All Sections
ECFA-Award
SAVAGES (CH/FR/BE 2024. D: Claude Barras)
Eleven-year-old Kéria rescues a baby orangutan with her father at his workplace, a palm oil plantation. At the same time, her cousin Selaï comes to stay with them because a large company wants to destroy his family’s habitat in order to produce palm oil The stylish Kéria is initially embarrassed by her indigenous relative, but Kéria soon discovers her roots and finds herself in the middle of a conflict with big business.
Statement of the ECFA-Jury
An authentic, rich sound design, a passion for detail and unique characters take the audience on a journey. The movie captures both personal and collective struggles. It is bold and relevant in its subject matter and style. It makes a very complex subject tangible for a young audience – congratulations to director Claude Barras and his entire team for SAVAGES, an outstanding animated film.
Bridging the Borders Award: Special Mention
MILCH INS FEUER (DE 2024. D: Justine Bauer)
What does rural life have in store for young people? 17-year-old Katinka wants to become a farmer. But as we all know, the farm is inherited by men and the dairy business has not been profitable for some time. Katinka doesn’t want to go anywhere else, because here she has nature, animals and her friends. Where others see no future, Katinka tries to build one for herself, in defiance of tradition.
Bridging The Borders Award
FOREIGN LANGUAGE (FR/DE/BE 2024. D: Claire Burger)
Fanny from France travels to Leipzig for a school exchange. Her partner is Léna, who longs to immerse herself in political activism. Fanny is attracted to Léna and does everything she can to impress her. After some initial skepticism, the two young women eventually grow closer. Initially friendly, the feelings between the two change at a party. A Franco-German declaration of love that also captures the fears of Generation Z about the future.
Publikumspreis
LARS IS LOL (NO 2023. D: Eirik Sæter Stordahl )
Initially reluctantly, Amanda agrees to support her new classmate Lars in everyday school life. He has Down’s syndrome. However, she soon realizes that Lars and she have more in common than initially assumed — especially their love of Harry Potter. But Amanda allows herself to be influenced by the opinions of the supposedly “cool kids” and puts her friendship with Lars at risk. Bullying is the result. Can he forgive her?