Cinekid for Professionals Announces Children’s Film Award Winners

During the Industry Party for Cinekid for Professionals in Amsterdam, the three Cinekid Lions for Professionals Awards and the Lion for Best Children’s Films were handed out.

While animated shorts had a strong showing, the top film prizes both went to live-action projects: The Cinekid Lion for Best Children’s Film 2025 went to Honey by Natasha Arthy from production company Toolbox Film. Best Dutch Children’s Film 2025 was for Twinkle Twinkle Little Elephant, directed by Meikeminne Clinckspoor, produced by 100% Film.

The Eurimages Co-production Development Award, a €20,000 prize for the development of a European feature co-production, which was presented to the hybrid project Dreamscape, written by Saar Ponsioen and produced by Juliet at Pupkin. The jury consisted of Ilse Ronteltap (Netherlands Film Fund), Nicholas Sando (Filmbin, Norway) and Valerie Yendt (Gebeka Films, France). The jury commented: “Told through an innovative blend of hybrid animation and live-action fiction, their story explores a powerful family secret revealed in an unexpected location.”

The PUBLIKUM Audience Awareness Award went to the 3D CG animated feature Acorn’s Adventure directed and written by Filip Mašek, from production companies Pure Shore and Fabian&Fred. They win a customized audience research project worth €9,000. The award goes to a project in development that excels in connecting with its audience. This prize comes in the form of services of a unique blend of anthropology, data and IT to help projects forge a deeper connection with viewers during the development process.

The jury — Rikke Flodin and Maria Villadsen (Will & Agency/PUBLIKUM, Denmark) and Niklas Teng (LevelK Denmark) — stated, “Acorn’s Adventure impressed us with its strong concept and clear target group understanding. It’s driven by characters directly inspired and partly created by the young target audiences giving it authenticity and appeal.”

Announced earlier this week, several of the short films awards went to animated projects:

Sparks Amarte Best Dutch Short Film Award 9- 
Film: Dog Bridge   
Director: Jorn Leeuwerink
Script: Jorn Leeuwerink
Production Company: Aapje.net
Country: The Netherlands

Sparks Best International Short Film Award 9- 
Film: Lola and the Sound Piano 
Director: Augusto Zanovello
Script: Augusto Zanovello
Production Company: Folimage
Countries: France, Poland, Switzerland

Flames Best International ShortFilm Award 9+ 
Film: Autokar 
Director: Sylwia Szkiłądź
Script: Sylwia Szkiłądź
Production Companies: Ozù Productions, Studio Amopix, Vivi Film, Novanima
Countries: France, Belgium

Sparks jury: Directors Susanne Hagen and Nils Vleugels and Go Short Festival Director Lotje Kerckhaert.

Flames jury: Directors Idriss Nabil and Ibrahim Handal and festival-agent Alexandra Hroncova.

Additional prizes were awarded to Crawler from Handmade Films in Norwegian Woods (Filmmore Post-Production Award for best live-action film in development) and Blin Fiducie (Flames Amarte Best Dutch Short Film Award 9-).
Learn more at cinekid.nl.