Bavaria Film sponsors Michel

At this year’s 10th Michel Children’s and Youth Film Festival, part of Filmfest Hamburg, Bavaria Film is sponsoring the Michel Award. The prize money of €5,000 will be awarded in the category "Best Director". Over nine days, there will be screenings of up to nine films suitable for audiences from the age of four. At the end of the festival, a specially appointed Children’s Jury will select the winner.

"With Filmfest Hamburg celebrating its 20th anniversary and Michel celebrating its 10th there are two good reasons for the Bavaria Film Group to fly the flag for this year’s festival. Our subsidiary, Bavaria Distributions and Productions GmbH continues to produce successful children’s and youth films and has recently set up a branch in Hamburg. It is involved in the production of several feature films. Therefore it is a great honor for us to show our commitment to Hamburg by donating this prize money for the first time at this year's Michel Children’s and Youth Film Festival," says Dr. Matthias Esche, Managing Director of the Bavaria Film Group.

A new addition for the 2012 Michel Children’s and Youth Film Festival is the recently appointed director Lili Hartwig. For many years she has been part of the International Short Film Festival team and has lately also worked on the Schulkino Week (School’s Cinema Week) in Hamburg.

"It’s brilliant that this year’s Michel films are being screened at the Abaton Cinema. The exact same spot where I first watched children’s classics such as "Pippi Longstocking" or "Emil and the Detectives". I’m looking forward to getting young audiences excited about the extraordinary stories and pictures from Germany and abroad in the very same place where I first experienced the movies", says Lili Hartwig.

Again, this year the films included in the Michel Children’s and Youth Film Festival are chosen from the Frankfurt-based LUCAS International Children’s Film Festival program.

The Michel Children’s and Youth Film Festival is celebrating its’ 10th anniversary
from September 28th – October 6th at the Abaton movie theater.
The 20th FilmFest Hamburg will take place from September 27th – October 6th 2012 at the following venues:
Abaton, CinemaxX Dammtor, Metropolis, Passage, Studio-Kino, 3001 and B-Movie.