A Festival with Quality

Watching films is indisputably one of the most beloved leisure activities in the everyday lives of children and youths. The LUCAS international children’s film festival presents children exciting films—and this for more than 35 years now! As the longest-running children’s film festival nationwide, LUCAS will once again this year present challenging, promising productions for children ages 4 to 12.

The impartially selected competition program—often beyond the commercial mainstream—contains artistically and thematically worthy films, which make foreign cultures understandable and school children in their habits of perception—but always encountering them at eye-level, as it were.

The Competition, The Juries, and The Prizes

The core of LUCAS is its competition. The 32^nd instance of the children’s film festival, organized by the German Film Institute (DIF), will take place from the 6^th to the 13^th of September 2009. Contending for the two renowned LUCAS prizes in this year’s competition will be ten feature-length and fifteen short films, which will be presented as world-, European-, and German-premieres with filmmakers as guests. 

Presiding over the bestowing of the main prizes is the LUCAS Jury, whose composition is unique nationwide: five children on an equal footing with five adults discuss the films and give the main prize for the best feature-length film (7,500 Euro) and for the best short film (3,000 Euro). In the course of the festival, the international juries of the Film Club Association (FICC) and the International Center of Film for Youths (CIFEJ) will award two further prizes.

Advancement of Film and Media Competence

In addition to the top-notch competition films and the meticulously organized special program focused on a current theme, this year animated film, above all our multifaceted film-education and interactive offers contribute to the conveyance of film culture and media competence. In the media age of the 21^st Century, in contrast with earlier generations, the use of media by adolescents is hardly effectively controlled; therefore children must increasingly develop a responsible as well as critical perspective—this is the central aim of the (film-) aesthetic education.

After each presentation we offer the opportunity to share with and pose questions to the attending filmmakers. The filmmakers also enjoy this direct exchange, since many at LUCAS are able to experience the reactions of children to their new films, often for the first time. In the LUCAS Activities Area our young guests can watch from behind the scenes and try out filmmaking for themselves—this year’s offer with the KI.KA-TRICKBOXX, a screenplay and animation workshop as well as a film set in Superformat, is more substantial than ever!

A Children’s Film Festival that isn’t just for Children

Das 1974 gegründete Festival gehört zu den Aushängeschildern des Filmlandes Hessen und bereichert mit seinen internationalen Filmen und Gästen das Kulturangebot der Stadt Frankfurt.

Industry visitors from both here and abroad can inform themselves about the newest productions at LUCAS. The Film Market, with all of the competition entries and all invited productions, offers accredited industry visitors a unique overview of the worldwide production of children’s and youth films.

In the accompanying two-day symposium, filmmakers and industry visitors will debate and discuss theoretical as well as practical issues concerning the effect and aesthetic of the animated film. Teachers are also in good hands at LUCAS. The multi-part educational program SEEING FILMS – UNDERSTANDING FILMS informs teachers about the film and festival program and thereby also helps them to systematically incorporate film and media pedagogy into their lessons.

The festival, founded in 1974, is exemplary among the many media projects of the state of Hessen, and with its international films and guests enriches the cultural offerings of the city of Frankfurt.

Organizers

German Film Institute - DIF e.V. / German Film Museum
Hessian Regional Office for Private Broadcasting and New Media - LPR Hessen