ECFA Award Edition 2021

ECFA Awards 2021 for Best European Children’s Films

ECFA has announced the results of their annual ECFA Awards. In an award ceremony, streamed live from the Zlin Film Festival studio, prizes were handed out to MARONA, FORWARD: TOMORROW BELONGS TO US, and MATILDA AND THE SPARE HEAD. All winning directors were present to collect their awards.

 

The ECFA Award for Best European Children’s Film went to MARONA by director Anca Damian (France / Romania), an animated film about an adorable street dog, reflecting on her life in her final moments. Anca Damian: “It might be unusual to start a film with the death of the main character already in the first five minutes. But this dog – inspired by a real dog that I adopted in 2014 – is teaching us a lesson in love and empathy. This film gives an important message about happiness. The process of looking around us is the first step towards a real change.

 

The ECFA Doc Award 2021 for Best Young Audience Documentary of the year went to FORWARD: TOMORROW BELONGS TO US (aka Demain est à nous) by director Gilles de Maistre (France). This film gives a voice to children from Peru to India, from France to Guinea, who fight locally against poverty, social inequalities and climate change. Gilles de Maistre: “Children don’t want to rule the world, but they want to participate in it. It’s not about thinking big, but it’s about taking action. Everybody can do it. What these children create is a worldwide wave, and it’s growing everywhere.”

 

The ECFA Short Award for Best European Young Audience Short Film of the year went to MATILDA AND THE SPARE HEAD by director Ignas Milunas (Lithuania), telling the story of a girl who wants to be the smartest person in the world. When all the things she learned no longer fit into one head, her mother buys her a spare one. Ignas Milunas: “This is a story about parents’ ambitions, putting pressure upon children. Luckily my parents were not as ‘hardcore’ as Matilda’s, but they saw the world differently from how I did, and my children again see things differently. It was my aim to search for similarities among generations, and not to emphasize who was right and who wasn’t.”

 

Margret Albers, President of ECFA: “The result of the voting represents an astonishing variety of forms, styles and approaches. Look at the three award winning titles: one speaks of life, death, happiness and farewell; one represents an activist approach with children addressing the world’s burning social and environmental issues; and one tells about the pressure that children experience in their everyday lives, a topic that was all too relevant in 2020. All these films have the courage to embrace some darker aspects of young people’s lives, often with a light-hearted and colourful approach. The list of nominated films is yet another proof of the richness of the European children’s film landscape.

 

ECFA’s yearly award ceremony during the Berlinale had been postponed, for  obvious reasons. The event was now held online, streamed live from the Zlin Film Festival studio. The ‘spring part’ of the Zlin Film Festival (Czech Republic) is currently taking place; the ‘autumn part’ has been planned from September 9 to 15.


The ECFA Award is the only European children’s film award voted on by professionals, namely the members of ECFA!

The 18 festivals that participated in this year’s ECFA Awards were JEF Festival (Antwerp & Bruges, Belgium), BUFF Children & Youth Film Festival (Malmö, Sweden), Film Festival for Children & Youth (Zlin, Czech Republic), Children’s & Youth Film Festival (Oulu, Finland), Just Film Children & Youth Film Festival (Tallinn, Estonia), Schlingel Film Festival for Children & Young Audience (Chemnitz, Germany), Lucas Festival for Young Filmlovers (Frankfurt, Germany), Ale Kino! Young Audience Film Festival (Poznan, Poland), Olympia Children’s Film Festival (Pyrgos, Greece), Filem’on Children’s Film Festival (Brussels, Belgium), doxs! – Documentaries for Children & Young People (Duisburg, Germany), Kino Dzieci Kids Film Festival (Warsaw, Poland), Short Film Festival (Oberhausen, Germany), Biennial of Animation (Bratislava, Slovakia), International Festival of Cinematographic Debuts ‘Spirits of Fire’ (Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia), FIFEM (Montreal, Canada), Cinemira International Children’s Film Festival (Budapest, Hungary), International Women’s Film Festival (Dortmund & Cologne, Germany).

 


Films nominated for the ECFA Award 2021

ECFA Award at the International Festival of Cinematographic Debuts “Spirit of Fire” at Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia): “Away” by Gints Zilbalodis, Latvia 2019.

ECFA Documentary Award at the JEF Festival in Antwerp, Bruges & other cities in Flanders (Belgium): “Bertha and the Wolfram” by Tijs Torfs, Belgium, 2020.

ECFA Short Film Award at the JEF Festival in Antwerp, Bruges & other cities in Flanders (Belgium): “I’m not scared of the Crocodiles” by Marc Riba and Anna Solanas, Spain, 2018.

ECFA Award at the Montreal International Children’s Film Festival (FIFEM) 2020: “Stars by the Pound” by Marie-Sophie Chambon, France, 2019.

ECFA Short Film Award at the Cinemira International Children’s Film Festival in Budapest (Hungary): “Kipp-Kopp in the Snow” by Szilvia Fabrók and Tama Mikov, Hungary 2019.

ECFA Short Film Award at the Short Film Festival in Oberhausen (Germany): “A lynx in the Town” by Nina Bisiarina, France, 2019.

ECFA Short Film Award at the Women’s Film Festival Köln/Dortmund: “Armed Lullaby” by Yana Ugrekhelidze, Germany, 2019.

ECFA Documentary Award at the Zlin International Filmfestival: “Forward: Tomorrow Belongs to Us” by Gilles de Maistre (France, 2019).

ECFA Award at the Lucas International Film Festival for Young Film Lovers in Frankfurt (Germany): “Marona’s Fantastic Tale” by Anca Damian (Romania, France, Belgium, 2020).

ECFA Award at Kids Kino Festival Poland 2020: “Fritzi – A Revolutionary Tale” by Ralf Kukula and Matthias Bruhn (Germany, 2019).

ECFA Short Film Award at Bibiana International Festival of Animated Films for Children Bratislava 2020: “The Sloth” by Julia Ocker (Germany, 2018).

ECFA Award at BUFF, the International Children and Young People’s Film Festival in Malmö (Sweden): “Life Without Sara Amat” by Laura Jou (Spain, 2019).

ECFA Award at the Schlingel International Film Festival for Children and Young Audience in Chemnitz (Germany): “My Little Sister” by Alexander Galibin (Russia, 2019).

ECFA Documentary Award at the doxs! -Festival in Duisburg (Germany): “Dear Darkness” by Samuel Schwarz (Germany, 2019).

ECFA Award at the Just Film Children and Youth Film Festival in Tallinn (Estonia): “Glassboy” by Samuele Rossi, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, 2020.

ECFA Award at the Filem’on International Film Festival for Young Audience in Brussels (Belgium): “The Crossing” by Johanne Helgeland (Norway 2019).

ECFA Documentary Award at the Filem’on International Film Festival for Young Audience in Brussels (Belgium): “Acasa, My Home” by Radu Ciorniciuc (Romania, Germany, Finland, 2020).

ECFA Short Film Award at the Filem’on International Film Festival for Young Audience in Brussels (Belgium): “En Route” by Marit Weerheijm (The Netherlands, 2019)

ECFA Award at the Olympia International Film Festival for Children And Young People in Pyrgos (Greece): “When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit” by Caroline Link (Germany, 2019).

ECFA Short Film Award at the Olympia International Film Festival for Children And Young People in Pyrgos (Greece): “Matilda and the Spare Head” by Ignas Meilūnas (Lithuania, 2020).

ECFA Documentary Award at the Olympia International Film Festival for Children And Young People in Pyrgos (Greece): “Little Ballerinas” by Anne-Claire Dolivet (France, 2020).

ECFA Award at the International Young Audience Film Festival Ale Kino! in Poznan (Poland): “The Club of Ugly Children” by Jonathan Elbers (The Netherlands, 2019).

ECFA Award at the Oulu International Children’s and Youth Film Festival (Finland): “The Crossing” by Johanne Helgeland (Norway, 2019).