German Generations Film Award

The Competition

The German Generations Film Award started in 1998 as a complementary competition to the already existing German Youth Film Award (Deutscher Jugendfilmpreis). The project benefits from the fact that young and older people alike are fascinated by making, presenting and discussing movies as working with media has proven to be a good platform for communication between the different generations. The nationwide initiative provides a forum for older non-professional film makers as well as for young talents who deal with the topics of generations and aging in their movies.

The competition was founded by the German Centre for Youth and Children's Films (Deutsches Kinder- und Jugendfilmzentrum - KJF) and is financed by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend). Since the introduction of the award, more than 15,000 filmmakers of all ages have been taking part in it and every year even more films and videos are being submitted. The German Generations Film Award is one of the few sustainable media projects in Germany that successfully bridge the gap between the young and the old.

Competitors submit their productions in the thematically unrestricted contest and are separately judged in the categories 50plus (for film makers over the age of 50) and cross-generational (for age-mixed film teams or younger film makers highlighting issues of age and generations respectively).

Additionally all participants are invited to hand in films on a special annual theme.

Self-concept

Within the last ten years film technology and equipment has become cheaper, smaller and much easier to handle, thus changing the conditions of producing and publishing fundamentally. Virtual platforms like YouTube or Vimeo make it possible for everyone to broadcast their own productions worldwide. Needless to say that these circumstances are influencing the competition as well. More than ever we are convinced that it is necessary to boost public discourse on quality and review of film productions. The German Generations Film Award offers the film makers experiences that acknowledge their efforts and offer professional feedback at the same time so that all participants can develop their individual skills. The competition supports film talents and promotes the dialogue - among themselves and with their audiences - by annually presenting the best productions at the Bundes.Festival.Film.

Beyond this the competition also has a clear educational profile, intending to encourage people to use media in a creative, independent and self-reflective way – especially the allegedly not that media-savvy generation of people over 50. Moreover, the German Generations Film Award provides an impetus for young creatives to reflect generational topics in their films.

Whereas film productions that have been developed in educational contexts often fail when you compare them to productions that are realized under more professional conditions, we are distinctly open for those less professional productions as well. In the end it is all about the idea and the will to create something really personal and authentic.

Our Objectives

• Encouraging intergenerational dialogue by creating and presenting movies, identifying prejudices, discovering differences, identifying common ground
• Promoting media skills and media culture of the generation 50plus, presenting subjective points of view, expressing hopes, wishes and fears, drawing the public attention to allegedley taboo issues
• Public presentation of multifaceted images of aging