The city of Chemnitz is once again a center of attraction for young film fans - the 28th edition of the International Film Festival "Schlingel" began there on Saturday. To kick things off, a short film program with productions from Latvia, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, China and Croatia was shown at noon.
On Saturday evening, an opening gala with guests from politics, the cultural and film industries was held at the Opera House, where visitors were given exclusive insights into this year's festival program.
The film festival attracts eight world premieres, including the remake of the classic "Spuk unterm Riesenrad" for the cinema. The flick was to be presented to the public for the first time on Sunday. For this purpose, several actors and director Thomas Stuber have announced.
The festival's premieres also include the Finnish-Latvian vampire film "Arnold Achtsam and the Stone of Happiness," the Indian production "F for Frog" and the film "Frag mal Bebel" from Brazil.
According to the organizers, 171 films from 54 countries were selected from around 1200 productions for this year's "Schlingel." They will mostly be shown in the original language with German or English subtitles; for the very young, they will be dubbed live in the cinema hall.
In various competitions, 57 feature-length and 69 short films will compete. Several juries will decide on the winners. The best films will be awarded next Saturday (September 30). About 25,000 guests are expected to attend the festival, including several hundred professional visitors from Germany and abroad.
"The festival represents German children's and youth film throughout the world and in turn brings representatives of film festivals from all over the world to Chemnitz," said Saxony's Minister of Culture Barbara Klepsch (CDU). It has become an important exchange point for the professional audience and has developed into one of the three most important and extensive film festivals for young viewers in Europe.
The Ministry of Culture is sponsoring this year's festival with up to 518,500 euros, according to its own information. In addition, prize money of 12,500 euros for the European Children's Film Prize will be donated by Minister of State Klepsch.
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