LUCAS - International Festival for Young Film Lovers (44)

Festival start: 30 September 2021      Festival end: 07 October 2021

LUCAS – International Festival for Young Film Lovers is Germany’s oldest festival for young audiences and is organized by DFF - Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum.

Within the competition sections in the age categories 8+, 13+ and 16+ | Youngsters, LUCAS festival puts its focus on outstanding, international productions of children and youth films, including all filmic forms from fiction, documentary, to animation and experimental formats.

For the short film competition in the sections 8+ and 13+, we accept productions with a length of max. 30 minutes. In addition, the film has to have its German premiere at LUCAS. We accept submissions for the feature film competition only in exceptional cases.

During the festival week, filmmakers, producers, film literacy experts and professionals from all over the world meet in Frankfurt, Wiesbaden und Offenbach, attend the festival program together and discuss the films with the young audience. Under the heading “Get Involved!” LUCAS invites young film lovers to actively participate: They are part of the festival juries, host the Q&As, present films as patrons, and document the festival.

Section 8+

• Best Feature Film (5,000 €) donated by the Sparkassen-Kulturstiftung Hessen-Thüringen

• Best Short Film (2.000 €)

Section 13+

• Best Feature Film (5.000 €)

• Best Short Film (2.000 €)

• Award for an Outstanding Cinematic Achievement (2.000 €)

Section 16+ | Youngsters

LUCAS Youngsters Award (5.000 €)

All sections

– ECFA-Award (unendowed)

– Audience Award (unendowed)

– Bridging the Borders Award (unendowed)

Films submitted for the short film competition must meet all of the following 7 criteria. PLEASE NOTE: All questions of the custom form must be answered. Please refer to the regulations details below for further info.

1. The film has to have its GERMAN PREMIERE at LUCAS: It has not been presented before in a German festival or at other public events in Germany.

2. The film is not available for free or paid public viewing (VOD) on the Internet, Social Media included.

3. Only films which have been produced between 2019 and 2021 are eligible.

4. Only entries that can provide a DCP screening copy with English subtitles will be accepted.

5. The submission link must also provide English subtitles.

6. The running time of the film may not exceed 30 minutes.

7. Only entries with answers to the custom form will be taken into consideration.

8. The entry fee for all short films is 10$. Productions that faced specific hardship or originate from countries listed as Least Developed Countries by the United Nations Committee for Development Policy are eligible to apply for a entry fee waiver (ref. to the list here:

www.un.org/development/desa/dpad/least-developed-country-category/ldcs-at-a-glance.html). To apply for the entry fee waiver code for productions from LDCs, please contact lucas-entry@dff.film and provide production details.

REGULATIONS DETAILS

1. LUCAS – International Festival for Young Film Lovers presents in its program films - innovative both in their aesthetic form and in their content. We are looking for outstanding productions which appeal to young film lovers of various ages. This includes films made specifically for young audiences as well as films on account of their form and content. LUCAS is organized by Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum (Schaumainkai 41, 60596 Frankfurt).

2. The 44th LUCAS – International Festival for Young Film Lovers will take place in Frankfurt and the Rhein-Main region, Germany, from Sept. 30th to Oct. 7th, 2021. The festival is open for a wide range of fiction, documentary, animation, experimental and hybrid films. The films will be shown in competition, out of competition and in special programs.

3. Films submitted for the short film competition must meet the following criteria:

+ The film has not been presented before in a festival or at other public events in Germany and is not available for public viewing on the internet.

+ Only films which have been produced between 2019 and 2021 are eligible.

+ Only entries that can provide a DCP screening copy with English Subtitles will be accepted.

+ The running time of the film may not exceed 30 minutes.

4. A selection committee chooses films for the competition. The selection process will not be public and there is no legal right to enter the competition.

5. The awards are decided upon by various international juries – 8+ and 13+ consisting of children and youths as well as film professionals and 16+ | Youngsters only by young adults. The jury’s decision is final, and the jury does not need to justify their decisions.

Awards:

+ Awards for Best Feature Film in the age category 8+ (5.000 €) and 13+ (5.000 €)
+ Awards for the Best Short Film in the age category 8+ (2.000 €) and 13+ (2.000 €)
+ Award for an Outstanding Cinematic Achievement | age category 13+ (2.000 €)
+ LUCAS Youngsters Award | section 16+ | Youngsters (5.000 €)
Moreover, LUCAS bestowes the unendowed Audience Award as well as the award of the European Children’s Film Association (ECFA).

6. After a film’s entry into competition has been publicly announced, a withdrawal of the film is no longer possible.

7. Films will only be screened in original language with English subtitles. Selected short films in competition may be translated into German for voice-over by the festival.

8. The Festival acknowledges that for each film the international regulations authorise a total of no more than three screenings.

9. The deadline for entering short films is May 3rd, 2021. By then the selection committee must have received: The film on DVD/BluRay or as online resource including all relevant metadata.

10. The above mentioned DVDs/BluRays will not be returned.

11. A DCP/print of the film is to be sent only after an official invitation has been received. The DCP/film print must arrive at least 10 days before the festival starts.

12. Unless negotiated otherwise, the participants have to cover the costs for transport, insurance and customs. Entry fees will not be refunded, neither in case of the film being entered on different platforms, the film being selected nor not selected.

13. The festival covers the insurance of the DCPs/film prints while they are on location in Frankfurt, from their arrival until they are given back to the shipper.

14. Only the rights holder or his representative can enter a film. The festival requests that a DVD/BluRay/file of the film is deposited in the festivals archive.

15. Entering a film means the acceptance of the festival’s regulations.

16. The management of the festival is authorized to change the festival’s regulations in special cases but only in accordance with the international regulations.