The 46th edition of LUCAS – International Festival for Young Film Fans ended on Thursday with a festive award ceremony: DANCING QUEEN, JUNIORS and SORCERY received awards as the international best feature-length films for young audiences. APHONIA was honored with the award for exceptional cinematic achievement — the first time a short film has won this prize. The awards for the best short films go to LA CALESITA and THINGS UNHEARD OF in the »Kids« competition and ROOM in the »Teens« competition. Festival director Julia Fleißig congratulated the award winners in the DFF Cinema.
Award winning films of the feature film competitions
Competition »Kids«
Prize for the best feature film (5,000 €)
DANCING QUEEN (NO 2023. Director: Aurora Gossé)
Twelve-year-old Mina is anything but cool. Until now, this hasn’t bothered her, but then she falls for her new classmate Edwin, who is a hip hop dancer. To be close to him, she joins a dance crew and from then on thinks of nothing else. In a funny and thoughtful way, DANCING QUEEN tells how Mina finds herself after a few detours.
Jury statement in the »Kids« competition
The film DANCING QUEEN is funny and sad at the same time and tells the story of a courageous girl who pursues her dream of dancing despite all obstacles. Mina’s search for recognition and belonging is rousing and emotional, the actors and actresses convinced us in their acting and during the dance scenes we would have liked to dance along. We learned that dancing is good for the brain and you write better papers if you do some dance moves beforehand. We liked the sensitive camera work, which also creates funny scenes without making fun of the characters.
Honorable mention from the jury in the »Kids« competition
TONY, SHELLY AND THE MAGIC LIGHT
(HU/CZ/SK 2023. Director: Filip Pošivač)
Tony has a special gift: he glows. But in a house with a monster that spreads bad vibes and darkness, he doesn’t have it easy with that. To protect him, his parents barely let him out the door — which can be quite stifling at times. But when Shelly moves in, bringing fantasy worlds to life with her flashlight, everything changes.
Jury statement in the »Kids« competition
We can’t fail to mention a second film that particularly fascinated and amazed us with its extraordinary animation, creative ideas and a touching story. With richly detailed clay and wooden puppets, colorful paper backdrops and a cave world made of fabric and pillows, the film creates magical universes. We really liked the attention to detail in the set and costume, the multi-layered characters and the appropriate and purposefully used music.
Audience Award
DIE UNLANGWEILIGSTE SCHULE DER WELT
(DE 2023. Director: Ekrem Ergün)
At Maxes school everything is ordered by the thick set of rules of the petty-minded principal Schnittlich. Fun is forbidden and nice things end up in the Farbentsafter 2000, which leaves only a brown pile. When Maxe causes chaos, Inspector Rumpus from the boredom-fighting authority is called into action.
Competition »Teens«
Prize for the best feature film (5,000 €)
JUNIORS (FR 2022. Director: Hugo Thomas)
Jordan is bored with life in the small village of Mornas. His mother is a nurse and is often absent, so he spends a lot of time with his best friend Patrick. Most of the time, the two of them gamble on their shared console, but when it gives up the ghost, they decide without further ado that Jordan should fake an illness. With the money they collect for him in an online donation pool, they plan to buy a new console.
Jury statement in the »Teens« competition
The film treats a delicate subject with sensitivity and grace, yet still comes across as fresh and funky. The young jury also praises that the film shows the real consequences of the protagonist Jordan’s actions and furthermore conveys that not all stories have a happy ending and that we should all stand by the mistakes we make in life.
Honorable Mention of the Jury in the »Teens« competition
THE SIREN (La Sirène. FR/DE/LU/BE 2023. Director: Sepideh Farsi)
When the First Gulf War begins in 1980 and Iraq bombs the Iranian oil metropolis of Abadan, Omid is just 14 years old. While his mother and younger siblings have already fled, Omid has stayed with his grandfather.From then on, he delivers food and meets a wide variety of people along the way.
Statement of the jury in the »Teens« competition
We have decided to award Sepideh Farsi’s THE SIREN with an honorable mention. The film stands out for its realistic portrayal of war and its successful 3D animation, which, although very colorful, still conveys a very serious atmosphere.
ECFA Award
NINA AND THE HEDGEHOG’S SECRET (Nina et le secret du hérisson. FR/LU 2023. Directors: Alain Gagnol, Jean-Loup Felicioli)
Ten-year-old Nina loves to listen to her father’s bedtime stories about a little hedgehog who discovers the world. But since he lost his job at the factory, Nina’s world has turned upside down. Supposedly, the manager of the factory manipulated the accounting system, causing the collapse. But rumor has it that there is still a small emergency reserve of money hidden somewhere in the factory.
Statement of the ECFA Jury
We decided to award a film that focuses on an important and moving story.This one deals with the universal themes of work and job loss, but also with the power of stories and the imagination we need in our lives to discover the world around us. Through original animation, the directors create boundless empathy in the viewer and inspire hope — through the colors, the characters and the intelligent storytelling.
MOZAIK Bridging The Borders Award (MBTBA)
TOTEM (NL/LU/DE 2022. Director: Sander Burger)
Ama is a child of the water: born eleven years ago on the ship to Rotterdam, she is now preparing for a swimming competition with her best friend Thijs. Her parents may be from Senegal, but Ama feels Dutch.But she is not allowed to give her address anywhere and is not supposed to talk to the police under any circumstances. When her family’s accommodation is finally discovered, Ama’s mother and little brother are to be deported.
Honorable mention by the MBTBA Jury
THE WORST ONES (FR 2022. Directors: Lise Akoka, Romane Gueret).
A director wants to shoot a feature film in the Picasso neighborhood, a suburb of Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France. In search of authentic young actors for his project, he holds a casting session at the local school. There he chooses Lily, Ryan, Maylis and Jesse, four teenagers from the neighborhood who are actually confronted with completely different problems in their everyday lives.The residents of the suburb are both surprised and dismayed by his decision: Why would anyone want to portray “the worst” on the big screen?
Competition »Youngsters«
LUCAS »Youngsters« Award (5,000 €)
SORCERY (Brujería. CL/MX/DE 2022. Director: Christopher Murray)
“Fathers die, and I can’t bring anyone back to life.” The mayor of Rosa’s village is no help to the 13-year-old: the Huilliche lives on the Chilean island of Chiloé and becomes an orphan when her father is murdered by a German settler. Neither the state nor the church want to offer her justice, but she finds shelter with Mateo, who, together with other indigenous inhabitants of the island, maintains old traditions and rituals.
Jury statement in the »Youngsters« competition
What really moved us was the way the winning film told its historical story through poetic words. We think it has a solid narrative structure, an excellent way of describing morally gray characters, and incredible aesthetic imagery. Director Christopher Murray has truly outdone himself in bringing his culture to life for all of us to experience.
Award winning films of the short film competitions
Competition »Kids«
Prize for the best short film (2,000 €)
LA CALESITA (AR 2022. Director: Augusto Schillaci)
– German premiere at LUCAS –
A spin on the carousel puts a smile on the faces of young and old. But maintaining it is a hassle, and adjacent construction work threatens to push the colorful attraction out of the cityscape.
Statement jury in the »Kids« competition
A beautifully designed and moving short film in 3D animation about an old man who loses his beloved carousel because a large construction site and gray office buildings take its place. The children, now grown up, who used to play on his old carousel, come to join him in building a new carousel out of old and new parts. Helping each other, sticking together, making space for kids in the city, and not playing on the cell phone so much is the message we liked a lot.
ex aequo:
THINGS UNHEARD OF
(Serpêhatiyên Neqewimî. TR 2023. R: Ramazan Kılıç)
– German premiere at LUCAS –
Ten-year-old Şevîn lives with her family in the countryside. When her grandmother’s TV disappears one day, she does everything she can to get her a new one. After all, the TV is her grandmother’s gateway to the rest of the world.
Jury statement in the »Kids« competition
In impressive pictures, Ramazan Kılıç tells how ten-year-old Şevin manages to gather the village community in front of a homemade TV to hear the news of the day, tell her own stories and listen to songs, so that even her grandmother smiles again, that pleased us very much, impressed us and made us smile ourselves. “It’s like that in real life!” said one jury member. A poetic and political film that addresses access to education — especially for girls — tells a story of cohesion and solidarity. Understandable even without words, only through the power of the actors and actresses, the images, the music, realistic and at the same time full of hope.
»Stadtteiljury« Award
THE STORY OF BODRI (Historien Om Bodri. SE 2022. R: Stina Wirsén)
– German premiere at LUCAS –
Through the real-life story of Hedi and her dog Bodri, this film tells of the Holocaust in an accessible way, without losing hope.
Competition »Teens«
Prize for the best short film (2,000 €)
ROOM (US 2022. Director: Ian Dani Kim)
– German premiere at LUCAS –
Dani is having a hard time with the pandemic and the lockdown that comes with it. Like many other teenagers, he is struggling with the effects of the pandemic on his mental health. He isolates himself in his room. An extraordinary, autobiographical animation.
Jury statement in the »Teens« competition
The film is a very accurate description of the lives of many teenagers during and after the pandemic, so we could really empathize with Ian Dani Kim. With his creative way of telling his story, Kim leaves room for the audience to interpret. But most of all, we were impressed by his detailed and thoughtful execution.
Prize for an Extraordinary Cinematic Achievement (2,000 €)
APHONIA (Afonia. PL 2022. R: Marta Z. Nowak)
– German premiere at LUCAS –
At the boarding school for the deaf and hard of hearing, a new student causes astonishment: sign language is foreign to him, he does not express himself verbally. Seemingly lost, the audience also puzzles over signs, reads faces, interprets intentions and emotions.
Statement of the jury in the »Teens« competition
APHONIA receives the award for exceptional cinematic achievement for its poetic framing, its unique approach to deafness and silence, and its staging that involves the audience in the story.