Generation Awards and Juries
Prizes in the competition Generation Kplus
- Crystal Bear for the Best Film
- Crystal Bear for the Best Short Film
- The Grand Prix of the Generation International Jury for the Best Film, endowed with €7,500 by the Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk (The Children’s Charity of Germany)
- The Special Prize of the Generation International Jury for the Best Short Film, endowed with €2,500 by the Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk (The Children’s Charity of Germany)
Prizes in the competition Generation 14plus
- Crystal Bear for the Best Film
- Crystal Bear for the Best Short Film
- The Grand Prix of the Generation International Jury for the Best Film, endowed with €7,500 donated in cooperation with the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (Federal Agency for Civic Education)
- The Special Prize of the Generation International Jury for the Best Short Film, endowed with €2,500 donated in cooperation with the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (Federal Agency for Civic Education)
Generation International Jury 2025

Emma Branderhorst (Netherlands)
Dutch director Emma Branderhorst has been closely associated with the Berlinale since the beginning of her career. Her short film Under the Skin premiered in the Generation section in 2020, as did Spotless two years later. The latter was awarded the Crystal Bear for Best Short Film in 2022 and competed for the Short Film Oscar as the Dutch entry. Her film Ma Mère et Moi also celebrated its world premiere at the Berlinale in 2023. Branderhorst, who studied at the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten in Utrecht, is currently preparing her first feature-length film. She frequently directs commercials as well, for which she was awarded the Grand Prix at Cannes Lions in 2024.

Aslı Özarslan (Germany)
Born in Berlin, director Aslı Özarslan first studied in Bayreuth and at the Sorbonne in Paris before beginning her studies in Documentary Film Directing at the Baden-Württemberg Film Academy. Her graduation film Dil Leyla (2016) received numerous awards. After receiving scholarships from the Academy of Arts and the Tarabya Cultural Academy in Istanbul and the Netflix Talent Workshop 2023 in Prague, her first feature film Ellbogen (Elbow) celebrated its world premiere in the Generation 14plus section of the Berlinale in 2024. Since then, the film has won various awards in Germany and abroad, including Best Literary Adaptation at the Frankfurter Buchmesse (Frankfurt Book Fair), at the Filmkunstmesse Leipzig and at other festivals in Frankfurt, Erfurt, South Korea and Marseille.

Ikoro Sekai (Canada)
Ikoro Sekai is a film curator who has been with the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) since 2016, overseeing the programme for young audiences and emerging filmmakers. He is the Lead Programmer of the TIFF Next Wave Film Festival, Canada's largest festival curated for and by youth, celebrating the future of cinema. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film and Art History from Concordia University. Ikoro is dedicated to the intersection of art and community, using film to connect, inspire and empower youth.
Children's Jury Generation Kplus 2025
A Children's Jury with members aged 12 to 14 awards the Crystal Bears in the Generation Kplus competition. The jury members are selected by the section heads based on film questionnaires submitted the previous year.
The members of the 2025 Generation Kplus Children's Jury: Bonnie Lou Severin, Lenja Utecht, Jim Anatol Hemmert, Madó Solís Wüst, Sergey Ivanov, Wanda Grduszak, Philipp Disselhoff.
Youth Jury Generation 14plus 2025
A Youth Jury with members aged 14 and up awards the Crystal Bears in the Generation 14plus competition. The jury members are selected by the section heads based on film questionnaires submitted the previous year.
The members of the 2025 Generation 14plus Youth Jury: Nour Ibrahim, Zeynep Atay, Tyler Kurokhtin, Jil Baalmann, Rohan Yadav.
Applications to become members of the Children’s and Youth Jurys can be made via the film questionnaires that are distributed in the cinemas during the festival and are also available online. Generation is looking for children between the ages of 12 and 14 and young people of 14 and above who are curious about the Generation films and who are happy to share their enthusiasm for cinema with other people. No extensive knowledge of film nor festival experience is required.
The jury members watch all the films from the respective competitions and jointly award the Crystal Bears for the Best Film and Best Short Film to the filmmakers.
Since it is not possible to schedule all film screenings in the afternoon, participation in the jury also includes an exemption from school classes. The Generation team organises this exemption together with the jury members’ parents. Many schools support this unique experience.
The jury members should be from Berlin. During their time at the festival, they will be accompanied by two experienced supervision teams.
All films in the Generation programme are shown in their original language with English subtitles. Films from the Generation Kplus programme (Children’s Jury) are additionally presented with live German voice-over.
Here you can share your opinions about the Generation films and at the same time apply for next year's Youth Jury.
The film questionnaires for Generation Kplus and Generation 14plus:
Film questionnaire Kplus, PDF (166 KB)
Film questionnaire 14plus, PDF (172 KB)
The questionnaires are also forwarded to the participating filmmakers after the festival, so that they can find out first hand how their films were received by the Generation audience.