Feb 18, 2021
Generation Juries 2021

The actress Jella Haase, the director Mees Peijnenburg and the director / writer Melanie Waelde form the International Jury of the 44th Generation. Together, they will view the 15 films in the cinema and decide on the prizes in the two competitions Generation Kplus and Generation 14plus in March.

The Grand Prix for the Best Film in the Kplus competition is endowed with 7,500 Euros and is sponsored by the Deutsche Kinderhilfswerk (German Children's Fund). The prize in the 14plus competition is endowed with 7,500 Euros as well.

The films awarded by the International Jury will be announced on March 4 at the Berlinale Industry Event; the award ceremony will take place in June at the Berlinale Summer Special.

Given the two-tier format of this year's Berlinale, the Generation Children's and Youth Juries will view the Generation competition entries together with the audience at the Berlinale Summer Special in June and award the Crystal Bears as the highlight of the Generation programme at the Berlinale Summer Special.

The independent Jury AG Kino Gilde 14plus, newly introduced in 2020, will award a film from the 14plus competition as part of the Summer Special in June.

The members of the Generation International Jury are:

Jella Haase (Germany) - Actress
Jella Haase celebrated two world premieres as an actress at the Berlinale 2020: In Burhan Qurbani's Competition entry Berlin Alexanderplatz and in Leonie Krippendorff's Kokon (Cocoon), the opening film of Generation 14plus. In 2016, she was awarded the European Shooting Star at the Berlinale. She is known to a wide audience by virtue of the German comedy trilogy Fack ju Göhte (2017, 2015, 2013), and her acting performance was nominated for the German Film Prize. Since 2019, Jella Haase has been a permanent member of the Berliner Volksbühne ensemble. She is committed to the movements “Fridays for Future” and “Leave No One Behind”, and she actively campaigns against racism.

Mees Peijnenburg (Netherlands) - Director
The Dutch director has so far presented three of his films at the Berlinale: His graduation film Cowboys Janken Ook (Even Cowboys Get to Cry) was screened in the short film competition at Generation 14plus in 2014; with A Hole in My Heart, he was again in the short film competition of 14plus in 2015; Most recently, his feature film Paradise Drifters was screened at Generation 14plus in 2020. Peijnenburg has consistently characterised his films, photo series, music videos and commercial spots by experimenting with different narrative forms and using his own distinct imagery and intimate creative style. He was the winner of the Golden Calf (aka a Dutch Oscar) 2015 for his film We Will Never Be Royals, and he was awarded the Director's Award in 2016 by the renowned Dutch Directors Guild.

Melanie Waelde (Germany) - Director and Screenwriter
Melanie Waelde celebrated the world premiere of her debut feature film Nackte Tiere (Naked Animals) at the Berlinale 2020 in the section Encounters / Cross Section Generation. The film received a Special Mention from the Jury of the GWFF Best First Feature Award. In addition, Nackte Tiere was nominated in four categories for the German Film Critics' Prize, including Best Fiction Film. Waelde carefully channels her work directly and observationally, following feelings more than logic. As a director, she is interested in the cinema as a space of experience in which there is no need to explain, but which can be experienced. Since 2018, she has also been writing for the children's series Schloss Einstein and has worked as an author for various documentary film projects.

Press Office
February 18, 2021