16/10/2026 - The projects have scooped the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award, the Filmmore Post-Production Award and the PUBLIKUM Audience Awareness Award, respectively

This year’s Cinekid for Professionals (13-15 October), the industry strand of Amsterdam’s Cinekid Festival (10-25 October), has announced its award winners during its industry party and awards ceremony held at the CineKantine, the festival hub next to Pathé Amsterdam Noord. The three prizes recognise projects for young audiences, providing support for development, post-production and audience research.

The Eurimages Co-Production Development Award, worth €20,000, went to The Island of Nose, directed by Noël Loozen, penned by Saar Ponsioen, and produced by Layla Meijman and Maarten van der Ven for Studio Ruba. The Dutch live-action feature is aimed at audiences aged eight and above. The jury – Ilse Ronteltap, of the Netherlands Film Fund; Sigrid Ekbaum, of the Estonian Film Institute; and filmmaker Vincent Förster – praised “a project that is ambitious in both narrative scope and visual language”. Highlighting its environmental themes, the jurors added: “Given its timely story about the health of our planet at its core, we are honouring a project that sets out to translate impressive illustrations into an even more impressive process of world-building in moving images.”

Next, the Filmmore Post-Production Award, which goes to the best live-action project in development, was claimed by Finger Thief, written and helmed by Harry Patramanis, and produced by Vicky Miha and Eleni Asvesta through Asterisk* and Shampoo Films. The Greek-French-Romanian project, intended for viewers aged 12 and above, receives €5,000 in post-production services at Filmmore. Presenting the award, Remco Mastwijk highlighted the project’s exploration of the physical and emotional pressures of gymnastics, family relationships and adolescence. He described it as “a journey of liberation where gymnastics can be performed on the protagonist’s own terms”, with the city itself becoming her gymnasium.

Meanwhile, the PUBLIKUM Audience Awareness Award went to Matey, a Dutch live-action series directed by Arne Toonen, written by Rik van der Bos and Bodil Matheeuwsen, and produced by Jacqueline de Goeij for Fiction Valley. The prize comprises €9,000 in services from Danish consultancy Will & Agency, which combines anthropology, data and technology to explore audience responses during script development. The jury – Oscar Albertsen, Jesper Thomsen and Rikke Flodin – singled out the project’s imaginative approach to mental well-being, describing it as “relevant, relatable and important”, and recognising its potential to reach a wide audience.

In the main festival competition, meanwhile, the Cinekid Lion for Best Children’s Film was awarded to Atlas of the Universe by Romanian filmmaker Paul Negoescu, produced by Radu Stancu through deFilm. The Romanian-Bulgarian co-production was selected by a jury comprising Els Kuiper, Marie Limkilde and Jitendra Mishra, which also gave a Special Mention to Gugu’s World by Allan Deberton.

The Best Dutch Children’s Film Award went to Miss Moxy by Vincent Bal and Wip Vernooij, produced by Bos Bros and Phanta Vision. The jury – Dewi Reijs, Max de Valck and Ayla Spaans – also honoured the entire team behind Fri Fri Suriname with the Craftsmanship in a Series Production Award, whilst Bollox won Most Original Series Production. Moreover, Gregory Samson’s Fanboy received the Youth Jury Award.

The short-film competitions also crowned their winners. In the Sparks section, aimed at younger children, Let’s Play by Marzieh Rasekh received the Amarte Best Dutch Short Film Award, while The Day I Licked a Pebble took home the international equivalent. In Flames, for audiences aged nine and above, the corresponding trophies went to Brus by Merel van Kesteren and Abracadabra by Amay Mehrishi.

Here is the full list of this year’s winners:

Cinekid for Professionals

Eurimages Co-Production Development Award
The Island of Nose – Noël Loozen (Netherlands)
Production company: Studio Ruba

Filmmore Post-Production Award
Finger Thief – Harry Patramanis (Greece/France/Romania)
Production companies: Asterisk*, Shampoo Films

PUBLIKUM Audience Awareness Award
Matey – Arne Toonen (Netherlands)
Production company: Fiction Valley

Cinekid

Cinekid Lions 2026

Best Children’s Film
Atlas of the Universe – Paul Negoescu (Romania/Bulgaria)
Special Mention
Gugu’s World – Allan Deberton (Brazil)

Best Dutch Children’s Film
Miss Moxy – Vincent Bal, Wip Vernooij (Netherlands)

Youth Jury Award
Fanboy – Gregory Samson (Netherlands)

Series awards

Craftsmanship in a Series Production Award
The entire team behind Fri Fri Suriname – Mischa Kamp, Sacha Vermeulen (Netherlands)

Most Original Series Production
Bollox – Cassandra Offenberg, Martijn de Vos (Netherlands)

Sparks Shorts

Amarte Best Dutch Short Film
Let’s Play – Marzieh Rasekh (Netherlands)

Best International Short Film
The Day I Licked a Pebble – Goli Atefi, Marie Pijollet, Nathan Jauze, Maud Kolasa, Chloé Bernuchon, Flavie Eliézer (France)

Flames Shorts (9+)

Amarte Best Dutch Short Film
Brus – Merel van Kesteren (Netherlands)

Best International Short Film
Abracadabra – Amay Mehrishi (India/UK)

MediaLab awards

MediaLab Audience Award
Kitiklop – Dorian Beagrande (Sweden)

Best Game Award
De Planeetpoort – Mediacollege Amsterdam, Grafisch Lyceum Utrecht, HKU – University of the Arts Utrecht, Sammie de Vries/XR Lab – MediaLab (Netherlands)