Doors close on 33rd LUCAS
The 33rd LUCAS International Children’s Film Festival in Frankfurt ran from September 5-12.
The jury awarded the top prize to Nila Madhab Panda’s Indian film I am Kalam, which was produced with backing from the NGO Smile Foundation and was presented at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The film, which looks at childhood poverty and is inspired by the life of former Indian president Abdul Kalam, also won the Don Quixote International Film Club Federation Award (IFFS).
LUCAS is the oldest children’s film festival in Germany. For over 35 years, it has acted as a showcase and voice for films aimed at audiences aged 4-12 years. The festival is organised by the German Cinematheque (Deutsches Film Institut) and LPR Hessen (Hesse Regional Institute for Private Broadcasting and New Media) and financed by national, regional and local governments.
At the latest edition, Best Short Film went to Gregg Helvey’s Indian/US co-production Kavi, about modern forms of exploitation and slavery.
Joanna Lurie’s French film The Silence Beneath the Bark nabbed the recently-created Best Animated Short Film Award, while the Audience Award was handed to Michael Swan’s South African title White Lion.
The CIFEJ (International Centre of Films for Children and Young People) International Jury Prize was presented to Oliver Ussing’s My Good Enemy, which also received an IFFS Jury Prize. The CIFEJ Jury also gave a special mention to Ricardo Trogi’s comedy 1981.
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