EcoFilm Tour Youth Award for "Beni Youth"

"Sometimes there are films that don't just flicker across the screen, but creep quietly and insistently into the heart and mind ...

These were the words of the youth jury of the 20th Ökofilmtour (Brandenburg Festival of Nature and Environmental Film) in their laudation of the short film "Beni Youth". It received the 3000 euro prize for the best children's and youth film over the age of 14. The award ceremony took place on 9 May at the Hans Otto Theatre in Potsdam.

The two Berlin filmmakers Raphael Schanz and Philipp Seifert (production company panther reh) made the film 2024 on behalf of the Ev.-luth. Mission in Lower Saxony (ELM) in Beni, Malawi. The film focuses on people who, despite difficult living conditions - which are exacerbated by climate change - do not give up and continue to cultivate the land around their home village of Beni. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malawi (ELCM) is one of the ELM's partner churches and supports the local people.

"Beni Youth" is one of three ELM "escape films" that deal with flight - or, as in this case, staying - in various African countries and against the backdrop of climate change and ethnic conflicts. "We wanted to make these complex issues of flight and migration tangible and approachable and tell human stories so that it's not always just about numbers. And not about how it is always perceived here in Germany: Half of Africa is setting off for Europe. Most people who flee stay in their own country or flee to a neighbouring country," said Raphael Schanz in an interview with ELM editor Dirk Freudenthal, describing the two filmmakers' ambition. With this latest award, he and Philipp Seifert, together with ELM, have taken another step forward on their journey.

Laudation for the short film "Beni Youth":

"Sometimes there are films that don't just flicker across the screen, but creep quietly and insistently into the heart and mind. Films that don't have to shout loudly to say something. Films that leave you silent for a moment and then leave you with all the more questions, thoughts and feelings. "Beni Youth" is just such a film for us.

When we as the youth jury looked at the various entries for the eco-film tour, this film was something special for me right from the start. Not because it needed big effects or dramatic music, but because it is honest. Approachable. Courageous. And because it tells the stories that are far too often ignored.

We were impressed by how the filmmakers manage to take us directly to Beni without putting a filter between us and the local people. The camera gets very close without being intrusive. It observes without judgement. It gives space for words, for glances, for silence. And it is precisely this closeness that does something to you.

In a world in which we encounter headlines about the climate crisis, poverty and migration on a daily basis and often seem abstract and distant, this film achieves the opposite: it makes the big picture tangible. It shows us the faces behind the figures. The voices behind the statistics. The hope behind the catastrophe.

What particularly touched us was the strength with which the young people in Beni face their situation. They do not give up. They do not leave. They stay. They fight. They plant trees, build a community that strengthens each other. And they do so in an environment where hope is often a rare commodity.
Technically and aesthetically, the film is just as convincing: the calm images, the fine details, the interplay of light, movement and silence all contribute to the fact that "Beni Youth" is not only seen, but felt. It does not leave us untouched. It makes us think. And it poses the uncomfortable question of what we do while others act.

That's why we, the youth jury, have decided to award this film the prize today. Not just because it impressed us, but because it reminds us that courage and change can start anywhere, even in the smallest villages in the world. Congratulations and thank you for this important film."