Youth 4 German Cinema 2025

A huge THANK YOU to our jurors Ana Sofía, Jessica, Juan Andrés and Leander, to our very special guest, actress Sherine Merai and of course to the Bay Area schools that joined us for the screenings at the Roxie and Vogue Theatre. It was a great pleasure within our wonderful festival!

Youth 4 German Cinema, now in its 12th year, is an educational initiative of Step into German and the Berlin & Beyond Film Festival, connecting middle school and high school aged students with contemporary German films and filmmakers. Youth 4 German Cinema has brought youth jury members from across the US, Canada, Mexico, and Central America to the festival, and through the years has shown films to over 6,000 visiting students.

This year’s Youth 4 German Cinema jury members are:
Leander Coskun, Canada
Jessica Han, USA
Juan Andrés Roman Morales, Guatemala
Ana Sofia de la Puente Serrano, México

The Youth 4 German Cinema jury chose Soleen Yusef’s Winners as the 2025 winning film.

Jury Statement: “Winners passionately tells a timely, politically and societally important story. It is special for us as younger viewers – what happens in the film could just as well take place in one of our schoolyards. We can deeply relate with the characters on a cognitive and emotional level. Meanwhile, the uniqueness and realness of the characters’ personalities and struggles as well as the delicious twists and turns of the story makes it stay fresh. The already incredible story is conveyed through innovative and interesting techniques of cinematography and the precise and thoughtful use of film music.”

Youth 4 German Cinema

Youth 4 German Cinema takes high-school students backstage for a glimpse into the workings of the international film festival Berlin & Beyond. In doing so, students are introduced to the German language cinema landscape and learn about filmmaking, film criticism and international films as a whole. 

Chosen from a pool of applications from across the US, Canada, Central America and the Caribbean, Youth 4 German Cinema allows select high-school students to participate in and to go behind the scenes of an international film festival; to meet industry professionals; to participate in artistic workshops; and to increase their cross-cultural awareness. Finally, they also help select the two winning films which are screened at the festival for hundreds of visiting students from across the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California.

 

YOUTH 4 GERMAN CINEMA 2024 PROGRAM

This year, the Youth 4 German Cinema jurors honored Marc Rothemund's “Wochenendrebelln”. The film is about a father and his ten-year-old son, who has Asperger's autism. The boy is determined to find his favorite football club. We were delighted to organize two digital Q&As with the jury with Jason & Mirco von Juterszenka, on whose autobiography this film is based, after the film screenings. This allowed the jury members and the audience to ask the two of them their own questions about the film and their lives.

JURY 2024

We are pleased to introduce the jurors of the 2024 Youth 4 German Cinema program: Oyinkansola Adekonye from Georgia; Kaibo Zhang from Montréal; Serafina Hwang from California.

The three participants visited us in San Francisco and gained insights behind the scenes of the Berlin&Beyond Film Festival. Highlights included: The red carpet on the opening night, the presentation of their film selection as curators for the Youth 4 German screenings and the subsequent Q&A with Jason & Mirco from Juterszenka, on whose autobiography, “Wir Wochenenderebellen”, the selected film is based. They also took part in a master class with award-winning and renowned film director and screenwriter Bettina Oberli to learn about the many steps involved in film production, from the initial brainstorming to the film premiere.

Youth 4 German Cinema

Youth 4 German Cinema takes high-school students backstage for a glimpse into the workings of the international film festival Berlin & Beyond. In doing so, students are introduced to the German language cinema landscape and learn about filmmaking, film criticism and international films as a whole.  
 
Chosen from a pool of applications from across the US, Canada, Central America and the Caribbean, Youth 4 German Cinema allows select high-school students to participate in and to go behind the scenes of an international film festival; to meet industry professionals; to participate in artistic workshops; and to increase their cross-cultural awareness. Finally, they also help select the two winning films which are screened at the festival for hundreds of visiting students from across the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California. 
 
Meet a jury from Youth 4 German Cinema: