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.

The Cinekid Sparks Competition is a selection of short films suitable for children from 4-8 years old. They are presented in thematically combined programmes or as preludes before a feature film screening. The films are chosen to represent a wide range of styles and showcase a broad spectrum of countries and cultures. A professional jury consisting of international and Dutch members decides which films are awarded Cinekid Lion Jury Awards in two categories. The winning film’s director will be awarded with a Cinekid Lion statuette and prize money. The two categories are: Best International Short Film and Best Dutch Short Film.

The Cinekid Flames Competition is a selection of short films suitable for children from 9-13 years old. They are presented in thematically combined programmes or as preludes before a feature film screening. The films are chosen to represent a wide range of styles and showcase a broad spectrum of countries and cultures. A professional jury consisting of international and Dutch members decides which films are awarded Cinekid Lion Jury Awards in two categories. The winning film’s director will be awarded with a Cinekid Lion statuette and prize money. The two categories are: Best International Short Film and Best Dutch Short Film.

The winner of the Youth Jury 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 Youth Jury Award and a Cinekid Lion, and the director receives a cash prize.

The Cinekid Best Dutch Series Competition consists of a selection of the best children's, and youth series made by Dutch producers and broadcasters since the last festival edition; both fiction and non-fiction. A professional jury chooses one winner per category from the nominations. All series in the competition are judged by this professional jury and are eligible for a Jury Award belonging to one of the following two categories: Most Original Series Production Award and the Craftsmanship in a Series Production Award. Of the winning series in the category Most Original Series Production Award, the Cinekid Lion award will be presented to the main production company. Of the winning series in the category Craftsmanship in a Series Production Award, the Cinekid Lion award will be presented to the respective makers.

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.

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.