The 26th SCHLINGEL Int’l Film Festival for Children and Young Audiences drew 17,000 visitors to the cinemas-at these special times. The top prizes went to Belgium, Bangladesh, Russia and Iran.
193 films from almost 50 countries were screened during the festival week, with more than 200 to follow by the end of the year.
More than 70 festival directors and programmers, journalists and distributors from all over the world as well as children and young people from different countries Europe were involved in the "Club of Festivals", the expert juries, the Chemnitz children's, junior and youth juries as well as in the European Children's Jury.
Director Amitabh Reza Chowdhru’s “Rickshaw Girl” won the “SLM Top Award”, endowed by the Saxon State Institute for Private Broadcasting and New Media SL, in the Professional Jury Feature Film International” category.
“Naima goes to Dhaka to earn money for her father's treatment, and she plunges into the deepest depths of society in the process. As a rickshaw driver, she is not accepted in the male-dominated society, so she cuts off her hair, slips into a pair of men's pants, and transforms from Naima into Naim,” reads the film’s synopsis.
“After the restrictions in 2020, we were extremely pleased to welcome most of them back on site in Chemnitz. All others had the chance to view the films of the festival via a special online platform, which was only accessible to jury members,” said the organizers.
Not only the juries, but also filmmakers visited the IFF SCHLINGEL and thus the Capital of Culture 2025 in large numbers, bringing a large portion of international flavour to the various venues. Where attendance was not possible, live broadcasts were made on a specially erected LED wall.