The inaugural festival took place in 1996 as the SCHLINGEL Children’s Film Exhibition. Held over a week in the Chemnitz Cultural Center, it screened films for children aged 5 to 14. Two years later, the festival moved to CineStar Luxor-Filmpalast that still remains its main venue. The festival is organized by the Saxon Children and Youth Film Association, its patrons are the Mayor of Chemnitz and the Minister President of Saxony.
SCHLINGEL is a major platform for international children’s and youth films in Germany, its main goal is to showcase international productions and to motivate German distributors and television channels to integrate them into their programs. Every year, it screens about 180 productions from more than 50 countries and attracts numerous cinema fans and film industry professionals from around the world.
The first award was presented at the festival in 2000. That year, the prize was awarded based on audience opinion. The first film to receive an audience award at SCHLINGEL was Král sokolu (The Falcon King) by Václav Vorlíček (Czechoslovakia). Since 2001, the festival has hosted an annual film competition with monetary prizes given out by a jury.
As of 2016, the SCHLINGEL International Film Festival has 11 juries that give out 16 prizes totaling 63,000 Euros. The festival hosts the following competitions: Children’s Film Competition, Children’s / Junior Film Competition, Junior Film Competition, Youth Film Competition, Focus Germany, Short Film Competition, Animation Film Competition, and Cross-Competition.
Alongside film screenings and award ceremonies, the festival program includes additional events such as panels featuring German and international industry professionals, and filmmaking workshops.
Photo: ff-schlingel.de
