ECFA Short Film Award

ECFA Short Film Award

Short films have been an integral part of the programme for children and young adults at Dortmund | Cologne IWFF for many years. With its special form of storytelling and aesthetic possibilities, the genre is ideally suited for school audiences. It can trigger powerful emotions and inspire intensive preoccupation with the condensed contents of the films.

For the first time this year, films selected for the section Films for Kids and Young Adults have a chance of winning a prize. The prestigious prize will be awarded to a European short film by the European Children’s Film Association (ECFA). Founded in 1998, the Association today has over 125 members from 36 countries and from various areas of the film and media industry: directors, authors, producers, organisers, distributors, festivals, film educators, etc.

The award recognises high-quality films for young audiences, focusing, in particular, on European productions. All Festival entries in the programme for children and young adults that are 30 minutes or less and are aimed at audiences under 14 are nominated for the award. The jury consisting of three members of the ECFA selects the winning film. This film will then compete next year against winning films from other festivals (such as Kinder- und Jugendkino, International Short Film Festival Oberhausen) for the ECFA Short Film Award. All ECFA members can take part in the final vote.

As an international festival of women’s films, we are delighted to add a new dimension to the award: we will showcase short films by women in the children’s film sector and pay special tribute to the work of these women.