The Ecumenical Jury at the 31st SCHLiNGEL in Chemnitz in 2026 awarded its prize to “Eu contez” (I Matter), the directorial debut of the Romanian actress and director Alina Șerban, and gave a commendation to the Chilean animated film “Brave Cat” by Gabriel Osorio Vargas. The festival’s main prizes went to “Too Old for Fairy Tales” (Za duzy na bajki 3, Poland 2026) by Kristoffer Rus (Top Award of the Saxon State Media Authority), ‘Lord’ (Germany 2026) by Caren Wuhrer (Top Award of the City of Chemnitz) and ‘Winski and the Vikings’ Treasure’ (Vinski 2, Finland 2026) by Juha Wuolijoki (European Children’s Film Award). The jury of the European Children’s Film Association (ECFA) awarded its prize to “Der Regenbogenfisch” (directed by Florian Moch, Germany, Switzerland 2026), which also won the Audience Award. The International Film Critics’ Jury (FIPRESCI) honoured the animated film “Iron Boy” (original title: Le corset, directed by Louis Clichy, France, Belgium 2026).
The 31st SCHLiNGEL International Film Festival for Children and Young People opened on 2 October at the Chemnitz Opera House with the German production 'Sammy und Frida – Chaos mit Sense' (international title: Just Call Me Frida). At the heart of Katja Benrath’s film is Frida, the “little Death in training”, who is set to discover life alongside young Samuel. As part of the opening ceremony, the Chilean animation pioneer Vivienne Barry was awarded the Ehrenschlingel for her life’s work. This year’s festival focuses on Poland.
The Ecumenical Jury awards its prize across all competition categories to a film from the Children’s Film, Junior Film (for 11- to 13-year-olds) and Youth Film (aged 14 and over) categories. Further films are screened in the Short Film Competition, the national competition ‘Blickpunkt Deutschland’ and the International Animated Film Competition, as well as in side programmes.