64th Berlinale unveils the opening films and juries for its Generation 14plus and Kplus competitions

Berlin, Germany, 20-1-2014 — /EuropaWire/ — The competition of Generation 14plus will open with the British musical feature God Help the Girl by Stuart Murdoch. In his directorial debut, founder and lead singer of the band Belle and Sebastian gives a profound and charming account of a summer love in the beat clubs of Glasgow. Stuart Murdoch and his leading actors, Emily Browning, Olly Alexander and Hannah Murray, are expected to attend the premiere at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt at 7.30 pm on February 7, 2014.

The Generation Kpluscompetition will open at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt at 3.30 pm on February 7 with the animated film Loulou, l’incroyable secret (Wolfy, the Incredible Secret) by Grégoire Solotareff and Eric Omond. This brilliantly artistic family film from France is one of five feature-length animated films in this year’s programme.

Juries and Prizes
The eleven children on the Children’s Jury and the seven teenagers on the Youth Jury will award the section’s Crystal Bears. Generation’s main prize is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. To date, a total of 64 unique hand-blown trophies have been produced.

For the second time, the International Jury of Generation 14plus will award the Grand Prix for Best Feature (endowed with 7,500 euros) and the Special Prize for Best Short Film (2,500 euros), sponsored by the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (The Federal Agency for Civic Education). The three jury members are: Laura Astorga Carrera from Costa Rica, director of the film Princesas Rojas(Berlinale 2013); filmmaker Jan Soldat from Germany, who has presented three much-discussed short films at the Berlinale (including Crazy Dennis Tiger, Berlinale 2012); as well as N. Bird Runningwater, a Cheyenne / Mescalero Apache from the USA who is head of the “Native American and Indigenous Program” at the Sundance Institute, and advisor for the Berlinale’s special series “NATIVe – A Journey into Indigenous Cinema”.

The three jurors of the International Jury in the Generation Kplus competition will award the Grand Prix for Best Feature (7,500 euros) and the Special Prize for Best Short Film (2,500 euros), which has been sponsored by the Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk for 15 years now. The three jury members are: Catriona McKenzie from Australia, director of the film Satellite Boy (Special Mention at the Berlinale 2013); film journalist Christian Bellaj from Germany; and Dutch filmmaker Boudewijn Koole, whose workKauwboy (Berlinale 2012) won the Grand Prix of the International Jury of Generation Kplus, as well as the Best First Feature Award of the entire Festival.

Berlinale School Project 
In collaboration with Vision Kino, a network for film and media competence, Generation is continuing its Berlinale School Project to promote the integration of cinema in the classroom. Under the guidance of film educationalists, some 45 teachers from different types of schools will work with films from the section. Reports with last year’s results can be found at www.visionkino.de.

“Abgedreht! Deine Welt in der Totalen“
The collaboration between Generation and fluter.de, the youth magazine of the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, is in its second year. In this workshop young people can learn the basics of online journalism and in February publish their articles about Generation 14plus films at www.fluter.de.

Advance sales for group tickets 
Starting January 27, tickets for all Generation films may be ordered at a reduced price for groups of five or more. Call 0800.7240322 (daily from 09.30 am to 5.00 pm).

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Olly Alexander, Emily Browning and Hannah Murray in God Help the Girl by Stuart Murdoch