Children’s jury at work: School classes in Munich evaluate programmes for PRIX JEUNESSE INTERNATIONAL 2026
The PRIX JEUNESSE INTERNATIONAL is the most renowned festival for children’s and young people’s programmes from all over the world. It is actually adult media professionals who watch and judge the children’s programmes at the festival – but the target audience’s opinion is, of course, just as important. And so the Munich-based youth centre Feierwerk has been organising a PRIX JEUNESSE children’s jury for 26 years now. During these days, school classes in Munich are watching the international entries and evaluating them. We dropped by the screening at the Feierwerk Südpolstation cinemas.
Children with a critical eye and great empathy
On this Tuesday morning, two classes from Rennartstraße Primary School take their seats in the cinema armchairs at the Südpolstation. Naturally, there are plenty of questions: “How many films are we going to watch today?”, and also: “What do I do if it gets scary?”. The interns, Kristina and Klea, patiently explain everything. They also make the context of more complex films understandable, discussing the themes covered in advance with the teachers. After all, exclusion, racism, physical disability and death are addressed in this year’s PRIX JEUNESSE final selection just as much as friendship, solidarity, gender identity and cultural exchange.
To enable the children to view and assess the competition entries submitted in English or with English subtitles, these must first be translated and provided with German-language voice-over tracks. On a voluntary basis and with great dedication and passion, many people of all ages who enjoy speaking and acting – including numerous Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation colleagues – have lent their voices to the characters in the PRIX JEUNESSE films, so that German-language versions can be produced for school classes to watch.
Tipps for programme makers
Four of the 27 finalist programmes in the 7–10 age category are being watched today by pupils from Perlach. After each film, the children fill in a questionnaire: How did they like the programme? Were the story and themes explained clearly? What did they think of the music, language and visuals? And would they recommend the film to their friends? The children eagerly award school grades from 1 to 6. Finally, each child has the opportunity to write a recommendation to the film’s creators, suggesting what they might improve. At the PRIX JEUNESSE Festival, the recommendations will be presented to the programme makers.
In total, the screening and subsequent assessment take around two hours per class. However, when the class teacher is presented with the certificate for the winning class at the end, the children are all in agreement: “It was over far too quickly!”
Final decisions end of May
There is just one question the children have asked that cannot be answered today: “So which film is in first place?” As more and more classes submit their ratings, the rankings are currently changing on a daily basis. Ultimately, the pupils’ ratings will form the shortlist for the children’s jury, which will take place at the Südpolstation end of May. There, the 20 programmes rated highest by the school classes will be watched again, discussed and assessed once more. And it is here that the final decision will be made as to which two programmes will be awarded the “Golden Elephant” by the children’s jury themselves at the PRIX JEUNESSE awards ceremony on 3 June.
Author: Carolina Knecht, PRIX JEUNESSE
Photos and additional press releases can be found at www.prixjeunesse.de
Contact:
Kirsten Schneid, Festival Coordinator, PRIX JEUNESSE Foundation
Tel: 089/5900 42058
kirsten.schneid@prixjeunesse.de