BJF Youth Film Jury

The idea for a youth film jury arose from the work of the former German Film and Media Evaluation Agency (FBW), which was replaced as the sponsoring organization by the Federal Association for Youth and Film (BJF) effective January 1, 2026. Several times a year, the BJF juries meet to award films the ratings “valuable” and “particularly valuable.” These include many children’s and youth films, and the juries repeatedly asked themselves what the target audience itself thought of these films. This led to the idea of establishing a separate jury made up of children and young people. Every film is different, but when is a film a “good” film? To find that out, the BJF Youth Film Juries discuss and develop criteria that are important to them when evaluating films and that ensure an important principle of evaluation: “objectivity.” Of course, everyone has their own taste. One jury member might not like comedies, while another might not like animated films. But evaluating a film “objectively” means ensuring that one’s own taste does not take precedence over an objective discussion. At the end of a discussion, the majority decides on a recommendation. This decision is then endorsed by the entire jury group. The films in this collection were viewed and evaluated by the children and teenagers on the BJF jury. Their reviews can be found in the respective film descriptions. The full reviews and further information about the jury’s work are available at www.jugend-filmjury.com.