Children make up 13 per cent of the population in Germany. It is high time to discuss this important target group for the media industry. And that is precisely what we did at our reception in cooperation with the Thuringian State Chancellery at the Representation of the Free State of Thuringia in Berlin on 16 February.

With around 140 participants from production, screenwriting, acting, directing, evaluation and many other fields, the event marked a successful start to the MENT year. Moderated by Anna Steinhardt, our five panellists discussed the topic of "Children's films between ambition, market and reform". Here are some of the key points:

🎬 Children's films have nothing to hide

Michael Hose, Member of the German Parliament and Chairman of the Children's Commission, from Erfurt, sees a lot of good things happening in Thuringia when it comes to children's films. However, he believes that too little is being said about it – and that needs to change. He also wants to combine commercial success with high quality standards and raise awareness of children's films, "because I believe that we really have enormous potential there."

👀 Keeping the target audience in mind

Silke Wilfinger (acquisition and sales consultant at SilkWayFilms) reminded us to take children seriously as a target audience – "because we adults always think we know better, and we don't." Denmark is a great role model in this regard, where a lot of testing and feedback gathering takes place during the development stage. Anyone who wants to be successful internationally must also make their stories universal. "If it's too German or too French, then the films won't travel."

🌈 Considering diversity

Johanna Faltinat, spokesperson for the board of the Förderverein deutscher Kinderfilm e.V. (Association for the Promotion of German Children's Films), pointed out that around 29% of under-18s in Germany have a migration background. This diversity must be reflected in the material, perspectives and characters – and must be taken into account right from the material development stage. In addition to statistics and figures, personal experiences can also be helpful here: "We've all experienced what it's like when parents cross a line and make us go to school even though we don't want to (...). These are, of course, experiences that we bring with us and that we can use to understand what it feels like not to belong to the norm in this society." She also wants to see more support during development, "so that we can achieve greater excellence in production."

🗝️ Participation as the key

All panellists agreed that when it comes to films for children, they should also be actively involved – whether through school visits or cinema premieres with the crew. This would allow filmmakers to see first-hand what questions arise and what makes children laugh – and to take these ideas with them into new projects.

Many thanks to our panellists and everyone who attended!

*Source: Federal Statistical Office (children up to 13 years of age – as of 2022)