Competitions & awards

Every year, Cinekid receives hundreds of entries for children’s and youth films from across the globe. Each entry features unique narratives and animation styles screened exclusively at Cinekid Festival. Cinekid selects fifteen of these outstanding examples for the Best Children’s Film Competition. It’s then up to the jury of international children’s film professionals to decide which director takes home the Cinekid Lion for Best Children’s Film and a cash prize. Visitors to Cinekid Festival also get to vote for their favourite film, which is awarded its very own Cinekid Lion.

There are fantastic youth films being produced in Cinekid’s homebase of the Netherlands. Cinekid selects the best films – aimed at children aged 14 years and below and their families – made since the last edition of Cinekid Festival. The expert jury then decides who takes home the Cinekid Lion and a cash prize. Children attending the festival can also vote for their favourite films after each screening – they decide which entry deserves a Cinekid Lion.

Every year, Cinekid shows a selection of the best shorts that introduce children in the Netherlands to stories from countless countries across the globe. All short youth films made since the last edition of the festival are eligible for an award in the Best International Short Competition. The approximately 50 films selected by Cinekid are shown as part of the themed programmes or as a short before a feature film. An international jury then chooses which films in two age categories take home the Cinekid Lion Jury Award. The directors also receive a cash prize.

The best short children’s films by Dutch filmmakers since the last edition of Cinekid all stand the chance of winning a Cinekid Lion. Following a preselection by Cinekid, it’s up to the expert jury to decide who takes home a Cinekid Lion in two age categories: children aged 9 and 9+. The winning directors in the Amarte Best Dutch Short Competition also receive a cash prize.

The winner of the Best Youth Film Competition is decided by a jury of film lovers between 12 and 14 years old, who judge a selection of youth films from the festival programme. The winner receives the CJP Youth Jury Award and a Cinekid Lion, and the director receives a cash prize.

Every year, the Cinekid MediaLab is where you’ll find the best new games for children between 3 and 14 years old. A jury of three gaming professionals make a selection of 10 games. The Cinekid Junior Crew decides which should take home a Cinekid Lion and a cash prize of €2,500. You can play all the selected games in the Cinekid MediaLab during Cinekid Festival.

This award goes to a feature film project at the Junior Co-production Market. To be eligible, a project must be intended for cinema release and be a European co-production between at least two Eurimages member states. Eurimages is the cultural support fund of the Council of Europe. The award has been created to support international co-productions and promote European films for young audiences.

This initiative is part of the pilot programme for Series Co-Productions launched by the Council of Europe and aimed to facilitate independent producers’ access to series development funding and foster creative collaboration as foundations for future co-productions. The project must be developed by one or more independent production companies established in a Eurimages member State and must have the intention of involving at least one other independent production company from a different Eurimages member State in the co-production.

All feature films and series selected for the Junior Co-production Market are eligible for this €9,000 award. The award money is paid in the form of services by the Danish business consultancy Will & Agency, who hands out the award. Will & Agency blends anthropology, data, and IT to analyse audience responses during the screenwriting process, helping filmmakers create a deeper connection with their viewers.

This €5,000 award, paid in the form of services by post-production facility Filmmore, goes to a live-action project at the Junior Co-production Market. Filmmore invests in long-term collaborations with filmmakers, offering full-service post-production, editing, and visual effects support for live-action projects in development.