13 Aug 2025 On the Screen (MD 2025/3)

Oberhausen (Germany) 2025

At the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen 2025, the Ecumenical Jury of the International Competition awarded its Prize to Dear Leo Sokolsky directed by Weronika Szyma (Poland, 2024).

Motivation: By employing minimalist animation with live action resurrected from family archives this film transports the viewer through Ansbach and the inner space of one woman’s journey to find her great-grandfather who went through the labour camps of the Second World War. Making the past present, and bringing together history, documentary and critical personal reflection, Dear Leo Sokolsky is a wondrous cinematic diary that gives us the rare opportunity to pull back the curtain and peer into the depths of a human soul.

In addition, the jury awarded a Commendation to Nocturne directed by Sol Muñoz and Ana Apontes (Argentina, 2025).

Motivation: For inviting us into the atmospheric care-free world of childhood, a film which captures two sisters walking through the night as their father works as a security guard for an affluent neighbourhood. Contrasting the loneliness of locked up condominiums with the freedom of sisters discovering an open and wide world, Nocturne is a delicate work of social critique and an existential reminder of what it really means to live life embraced by love.

The Ecumenical Jury of the Children’s and Youth Film Competition awarded its Prize to Autokar directed by Sylwia Szkiłądź (France, Belgium, 2025).

Motivation: Agata’s journey from Poland to Belgium offers a universal perspective on leaving one’s homeland and explores identity and tradition with sensitivity. In times of political and social polarisation. The film confronts the fear of otherness and provides a valuable insight into human connection that resonates across all age groups.

In addition, the jury awarded a Commendation to Happy Snaps directed by Tyro Heath (United Kingdom, 2024).

Motivation: The film offers a sensitive portrayal of a friendship that must face the challenges of separation and loss over the course of the film. It provides an important and inclusive perspective on relationships shaped by the human need to hold on and the emotional process of coping with change.

Cannes (France) 2025

The 2025 Ecumenical Jury awarded its Prize to Jeunes Mères (still on following page) directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne.

Jessica, Perla, Julie, Ariane and Naïma are staying at a maternity home to help them with their lives as young mothers. Five teenagers with the hope of achieving a better life for themselves and their child.

Motivation: The Ecumenical jury gave its prize to a film about the troubles of teenage mothers in a dedicated motherhouse. It finds ethic not on grand gestures, but in quiet acts of care. It is a smoothly told story in the best tradition of its authors who one again are able to add new elements to their refined style.

The film explores the first and utmost important relationship of every human life, which is motherhood. It touches a profound truth : love can endure even when family – the basic social structure – fails, when circumstances are unfair, when youth is burdened with adult responsibilities. The film proved than even small yet persistent acts of love and care of individuals and institutions can heal the deepest wounds.

Members of the 2025 Jury: Lukas Jirsa (Czech Republic); Arielle Domon (France); Anne-Cécile Antoni (France); Thomas. D. Fischer (Germany); Roland Wincher (Germany); Milja Radovic (UK).

Zlín (Czech Republic) 2025

The Ecumenical Jury, appointed by INTERFILM and SIGNIS, at the 65th International Film Festival for Children and Youth in Zlín (29 May – 4 June, 2025), awarded its Prize to Kevlar Soul directed by Maria Eriksson-Hecht (Sweden, 2025).

Motivation: A film about two brothers struggling to find their way in life, dealing with problems of violence and alcoholism in the family with the older brother taking on parental responsibility. It tells the story with consistent visual language with pictures that speak, even when the characters are silent. The film gives an example of compassion for people in need rather than judgment, letting the audience go through the difficult journey together with the main characters. Kevlar Soul comes alive with the authentic performance of the actors.

In addition, the jury awarded a Commendation to the film Nawi: Dear Future Me directed by Kevin Schmutzler, Toby Schmutzler, Apuu Morine, Valentine Chelluget (Germany, Kenya, 2024).

Eight camels, sixty sheep, one hundred goats – that is how much Nawi is worth. The family is in debt, so she has to marry, even though she scored the highest marks in the final exams and wants to go on with school. Courageously the young Kenyan girl tries everything to avoid having to marry a much older man. Even though Nawi can’t escape her destiny in the end, the film leaves the audience with hope for a better future. The film’s narrative is both playful and clear, using voiceover with visuals to underline the world of its protagonists. Nawi helps us become aware of a problem which affects a huge number of girls around the world, who just want to live their lives and follow their dreams.