Youth Juror Program

Section

A Program for Teenagers to View Films as Jurors

Teenagers serve as jurors for feature films recommended by the Berlin International Film Festival Generation, as well as short films recommended by the Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia. At the closing ceremony, members of the Youth Jurors will announce which films they chose for the Award of Excellence in each category. This creates an opportunity to be involved with films from a “viewing” angle.

Lineup

Berlinale Spotlight-Generation

We will screen five films recommended by the Berlin International Film Festival Generation, one of our official partners. Our aim is for this to be an opportunity for the younger generation to feel the emotions of fellow teenagers drawn by these works of art, and as jurors, to understand film as a form of expression, share opinions and thoughts in a group, and express themselves.

Full-Length
Category

BERLINALE SPOTLIGHT

The Wolves

Together with their mother, the brothers Max and Leo have just crossed the border from Mexico into the US in search of a better life. But it is not easy for them to gain a foothold in their new home. While waiting for their mother to return from work, the kids build an imaginary universe.

Japanese Premiere

Cocoon

In the multicultural microcosm of her Berlin neighborhood, there are many first times for 14-year-old Nora. When Nora meets Romy the noises of Kreuzberg suddenly seems full of hidden beauty, and she loses her heart to the wild Romy and learns to stand up for herself.

Japanese Premiere

The Earth is Blue as an Orange

Single mother Anna and her four children live in the front-line war zone of Donbas, Ukraine. Even in this condition, the family keeps their home as a safe haven, full of life and light. Every member of the family has a passion for cinema, motivating them to shoot a film inspired by their own life in the war.

Japanese Premiere

Voices in the Wind

In her search for answers, 17-yearold Haru sets out on a journey from Hiroshima to her hometown Otsuchi, where she lost her family by the great tsunami in 2011. On the way, she encounters people and their stories of losses. At the end, Haru walks into a telephone box with her wish to reconnect.

My Name is Baghdad

Baghdad is a 17-year-old female skater, who lives in a working-class neighborhood in São Paulo. Baghdad skateboards with a group of male friends and spends a lot of time with her family and with her mother’s strong-willed friends. When Baghdad meets a group of female skateboarders, her life suddenly changes.

Japanese Premiere

SSFF & ASIA Selection

We will screen five films recommended by the Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia, the first Asian festival with the purpose of sharing new film culture and developing young, up-and-coming film directors. Through the examination of these films with a high-level of art, we aim to help the younger generation develop their sensibilities and cooperation, so they can grow into leaders who support the film culture of the future.

*This program will be a fivefold-feature.

Short Film
Category

SHORT SHORTS

Samira

Interpreter Janosh is called in to the port of Hamburg as part of a decoy investigation. On site, a young African woman is standing on a container ship, threatening to commit suicide. In order to get her off the boat, Janosch promises to save her. However, that promise leads to a result that no one could have predicted.

Silence Please

Having grown up in a humble home, Dani is living with his mother and Javier, who has cerebral palsy. Dani is working and is also responsible for Javier. With a helper, Javier is doing an internship at the library, but a phone call from Dani's mother while he is at work disrupts the rhythm of the family's day.

Seed

Worrying about what they should do, “We want to feel our child’s last memory,” a couple thinks as they drive. They know that in this house that has fallen on hard times are a mother and boy living together. They also know that the boy’s father left immediately after he was born. What kind of thoughts will come back to this couple after meeting the boy.

Sugar & Spice

This is a work from the dry region of central Myanmar, where the director recorded the life of her own parents. An avid newspaper reader, her father climbs palm trees to get oil. Her mother can't read words, scales, or clocks, but uses palm sugar to make local snacks and supplement their life. There is much to love about the way they live their lives.

The Silent Child

Libby is a young girl that is deaf, and her family is searching for some kind of way to help their “broken” child live in the real world. However, after hiring a social worker specialized in hearing impairments, it becomes clear that the problem is not just with LIbby. In 2018, this film received the award for Best Live Action Short Film at the 90th Academy Awards.

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Youth Juror Program