*1. General Information*
The 31th International Film Festival for Children and Young Audience SCHLiNGEL will take place from 2nd till 10th October 2026. It is organised by the non-profit organisation "Saechsischer Kinder und Jugendfilmdienst e. V." and co-organised by "Saechsische Landesanstalt fuer privaten Rundfunk und neue Medien (SLM)".
SCHLiNGEL is an independent film festival with international competitions and supporting programmes. It takes place annually. The festival conceives itself as a platform for international children’s and youth films in Germany.
SCHLiNGEL – International Film Festival for Children and Young Audience gives an overview of current international productions and aims at motivating distributors and TV stations in Germany to integrate these films into their programmes. Eastern European countries are one of the festivals geopolitical focuses. At the same time
the festival offers both its young audiences and professionals from around the globe insights into the latest German children’s and youth film productions.
*2. Programme structure*
SCHLiNGEL presents its films in national and international competitions as well as in supplementary programmes.
A committee nominated by the festival organiser will select the films for the festival programmes. In the competitions, money and material prizes will be awarded.
• INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM COMPETITION with the following categories:
Children’s Film Competition (Target audience: till 10 years)
Junior Film Competition (Target audience: 11 till 13 years)
Youth Film Competition (Target audience: from 14 years)
• COMPETITION GERMAN LANGUAGE FEATURE FILM German Focus (from 5 years)
• INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION FILM COMPETITION (from 4 years)
• SHORT FILM COMPETITION with the categories (from 4 years) - screening in mixed & age-graded programmes for toddlers up to students and adults
Short Film National
Short Film International
Short Film Animation National
Short Film Animation International
• PANORAMA
• SPECIAL PROGRAMMES
The children's film competition honors among others the best acting performance of a child. Since this price is custommade, the personal presence of the winner to the award ceremony within the festival week is mandatory. Award winners undertake to mention the exact name of both the prize and the festival as part of their public relations work on advertising materials such as posters and flyers, and also to use the Laurels provided by the festival.
*3. Conditions of participation*
Only children’s and youth films completed after the 1st January 2025 can apply for the competitions.
For the selection process, films that are not produced in German or English must be subtitled in one of these two languages. All entries remain after the end of the festival for archiving purposes at SCHLiNGEL. Links must remain valid until the end of the festival. Online submissions are preferred and are also possible through the filmfreeway.com platform.
The films have to be available for our festival in the following formats:
• HD video files
• Blu-ray
• DCP (preferred unencrypted)
• Common HD & Cinema formats (4k is not supported)
All other formats can only be accepted in exceptional cases and in any case require consultation with the programme department. DVD is usually excluded as presentation format.
We only accept progressive digital video files. Interlaced material (50i/60i) is not accepted.
Feature films (& Animated films): Feature films need to have a minimum length of 45 minutes. German premieres are required for the categories of international children's film, junior film and youth film.
Deadline for submissions is 15th July 2026.
Preview copies of the submitted films must also have arrived in Chemnitz by 15th July 2026 at the latest.
Short films: (live action films, animated films; NOT ACCEPTED: documentaries, music videos or advertising clips) Short live-action and animated films are preferred to be German premieres and should not be longer than 45 minutes. Films with a maximum length of 30 minutes are preferred.
Deadline for submissions is 1st June 2026.
Preview copies of the submitted films must also have arrived in Chemnitz by 1st June 2026 at the latest.
The festival management reserves the right to decide on exceptions.
*4. Required material*
The following documents need to be attached to the registration:
The following documents need to be attached to the registration:
1. filled and signed application form (entry form)
2. stills and director’s portrait photograph for catalogue and press purposes (high-resolution!)
3. crew list
4. dialogue list in English and/or German language
5. short biography and filmography of the film maker
6. film poster
*5. Transport*
SCHLiNGEL takes on the organisation and bears the expenses for one route of transport, ideally for the shipment to the festival. The festival commissions a courier service to pick up the material. After the festival, the transport of the film to the next venue is to be organized and financed by the next recipient. The closing date for all selected festival contributions is 23th August 2026. The cinema prints of the selected films have to arrive in Chemnitz by this deadline. We prefer to receive contributions via FTP-Upload. Submitted DCPs should be non-encrypted. For any encrypted DCP the festival will require a KDM valid for the entire festival week and all venues.
The shipments from non-EU countries must be marked with the following statement: “temporary import - for cultural purpose only, no commercial value”. Additionally, a “pro-forma” invoice declaring a value of 20 Euro/US $ needs to be enclosed. In case of misdeclaration the submitter has to bear any costs.
Shipping address:
Sächsischer Kinder- und Jugendfilmdienst e. V.
Internationales Filmfestival SCHLiNGEL
Neefestraße 99
D - 09119 Chemnitz/Germany
Fax: +49 371 444 74 79
www.ff-schlingel.de
Contact feature films: Gorica Kovacevic | info[at]ff-schlingel.de | phone: +49 371 444 74 40
Contact short films: Antje Schönfeld | shorts[at]ff-schlingel.de | phone: +49 371 444 74 26
Or in case of technical matters: Richard Geuter | technik[at]ff-schlingel.de | phone: +49 371 444 74 48
For the period of the festival, the film copies are fully insured at their print value by the organiser. This period is determined from the registration (arrival of the films in Chemnitz) until being handed over to a courier for the return transport.
*6. Digital film projection for jury members*
For SCHLiNGEL selected films primarily will be presented at different festival locations physically. In case of special circumstances, e.g. not having the option that jury members can watch the competition films physically on site, we will provide the films for evaluation on the festival-belonging platform to the defined group of persons in a time-limited period. The submitting institution / person agrees to that procedure and accept the digital film presentation under the defined conditions.
*7. Miscellaneous*
In order to submit a film properly, the application form, downloadable from the festival’s homepage, has to be duly filled and submitted.
Producers, distributors or other institutions that apply with their film have to obtain the approval of persons involved in the production about participating in the festival. Films may not be withdrawn from the festival´s programme after the committee has send out its confirmation.
The applicant/participant allows SCHLiNGEL Film Festival to pass on film excerpts (maximum length of 2 min) to TV stations for the purpose of media coverage. The same holds for production stills or film trailer, which are used for promotion purposes in print products and the internet (including social media) or by the organizer free of charge. If in this context a special copyright is required, this has to be reported explicitly to the festival.
During the festival all submitted films (screeners) are presented in a film library and can be viewed by the accredited guests unless expressly contradicted in time.
Every year “Saechsischer Kinder- und Jugendfilmdienst e. V.” organizes a SCHLiNGEL-Matinee. The approval to the free presentation of the film during the matinee can be given in the application form. Also for this purpose the usage of film stills is approved. Fees are not incurred.
By submitting a film to the 31th International Film Festival for Children and Young Audience SCHLiNGEL, the applicants accept the preceding regulations.
These regulations are issued in German and English. In case of doubt, the German version is decisive.
Regulations are subject to change.
The agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with German law. Place of performance is Chemnitz, Germany. The courts of Chemnitz, Germany shall have exclusive jurisdiction.
