Susanne Steube, film professional from Hamburg

When she worked as production coordinator at Die Mediocren in 1994, Susanne Steube discovered her passion for the work all around film. After further film productions in Germany and abroad she founded her own small company: “KuppelFilm – production service for culture and media events”. From 2004 to 2007 she acted as one of the directors of the KinderFilmfest Hamburg and played an important role in the establishment of the educational film programme. In 2010 she was assigned with the school film week at the International Women’s Filmfestival Dortmund/Cologne.

Sinem Sakaoglu, filmmaker from Berlin

In 2000, Sinem Sakaoglu directed her first stop-motion short “Eva”. She started to study 2D animation in 2004 at the Animation School Hamburg. Her graduation film “Bo” received many international prizes. As a director she debuted with her feature animation film “Sandman and the Lost Sand of Dreams”. Her current projects include conceptual work and character designs for a stop-motion TV series as well as story development for an animated feature set in Istanbul.

Manuel Fenn, filmmaker from Berlin

Born in Feuchtwangen (Bavaria) in 1969, Manuel Fenn grew up in Munich. In 1993, he started to study at the School for Film and Television “Konrad Wolf” in Potsdam in the camera department. He passed the following years working as a self-employed director and cameraman before he founded the production company “Filmbüro Süd” that specialized in sensitive, often awarded documentaries about children and adolescents. His wide-ranging productions, predominantly prepared for public television broadcasting, are concerned with political and cultural hot spots of the world.

Willi Weitzel from the TV series “Willi will´s wissen”

Born in Marburg in 1972, Willi Weitzel began his media career at the children’s programme of the Bayerischer Rundfunk. At the same time he completed a teaching post study. In 2001 the series “Willi wills wissen” started in which he – as an enquiring reporter – gives young viewers insights into various subjects. The series received many awards. Further television shows and an adventure movie followed in his career.

Aaron Amend, 12 years

Aaron, a pupil at the Carl-Schurz-Schule, is twelve years old and can already call himself a director, for he has been directing short films. He visits the cinema eagerly and frequently and his favourite movies are “Matrix” and “Krabat”. Therefore, the participation in the LUCAS-children jury was just suited for him. He enjoys German and PE lessons at school, plays basketball and tennis in his freetime and likes drawing.

Paula Noack, 13 years

Paula is thirteen years old and attends the Aktive Schule Frankfurt. She likes reading and drawing and plays the clarinette. Very interested in cinema, she prefers visiting film festivals, because they enable you to see various movies from different countries which cannot be enjoyed anywhere else. Currently, her favourite movie is the chinese “Echo of the rainbow”.

Nora Lilith Spieles, 10 years

Nora is eleven years old and will attend the 6a of the Heinrich-von-Gagern-Gymnasium this autumn. She spends her free time creatively, draws, paints and reads Artemis Fowl as well as Charlie Bone. Therefore her favourite subjects in school are German and Art. Her cineastic highlights so far have been “Paulas Geheimnis” and “Hui Buh”. She is looking forward to many new discoveries as a LUCAS-jury member.

Katharina Stolla, 12 years

Katharina, twelve years old, attends the Wöhlerschule. She spends her freetime playing football and basketball and also the violin and the piano. She already is jury-experienced for she was part of the Kalbacher Klapperschlange children jury for four years where she reviewed books. One of her favourite movies is “Vorstadtkrokodile” and she hopes to give away the awards at this year’s LUCAS–Festival to great movies.

Richard Brauel, 11 years

Richard, eleven years old, is a pupil at the IGS-Nordend and lives in the city area of Bornheim. As hobbies he names chemistry, physics and rockets and as to sports he favourizes judo. He is interested in the media and enjoys watching movies. Up to now, “Lord of the Rings 3” has impressed him the most.

Gábor Böszörményi, film journalist from Budapest

was born in Budapest in 1980. He works as editor-in-chief and publisher of the Hungarian monthly film magazine „Mozinet”. For 12 years, he has been publishing reviews, festival reports and studies. He also acts as co-editor and co-author of film-related books. Moreover, the committed Hungarian leads a three-screen cinema in Budapest and serves as co-executive of one of Hungary’s leading art house film distributor companies. As the President of the Hungarian Federation of Film Societies, he supports and represents Hungarian film clubs.

Vera Hütte, film moderator and media consultant

After the librarian Vera Hütte had been responsible for the section “literature for young people and children” in the German Central Library in Apenrade (Denmark) for 15 years, she organised an exhibition about film adaptations of young people´s literature in 1981. Ever since, she has been contributing to events related to children’s movies and has been arranging and directing film workshops. By organising projects together with the Bureau for Childrens´s Culture in Kiel since 2006, she pleads for children’s film culture. Vera Hütte is also specialised in media consulting as she worked as adviser for the Association for Young People´s Cultural Education of Schleswig-Holstein from 2008 to 2009.

Hauke Lange-Fuchs, film journalist and historian

Hauke Lange Fuchs worked as an artistic conductor for the children- and youth programme and the film historic retrospective at the Nordic Film Days Lübeck from 1971 to 2008. Furthermore he is an active member of BJF (German federation of film clubs for children and young people) which explicitly pleads for the filmic interests of children and young people. As film journalist and historian he has published many articles, mainly on Scandinavian film.

Christian Exner, film professional from Wuppertal

Christian Exner, born in 1962, lives in Wuppertal, is an editor of the internet magazine top-videonews.de and works at the Centre of Films for Children and Young People in Germany (KJF). From 2001 to 2007 he was part of the German Federal Commissioner for Cultural and Media Affairs’ allocation commission. Furthermore he participates in several national and international juries, is government auditor at the FSK (age rating board of the German film industry), teaches at Bielefeld University and publishes reviews and essays about children and youth film. He currently runs the Bundesfestival Video (Federal Festival Video).

Irene Wellershoff, editor-in-chief of the ZDF’s editorial department “Children and Youth”

Irene Wellershoff, born in Bonn, began her work in television in 1983. Prior to that, she read German and Social studies, obtaining a PhD with a thesis about the oeuvre of Mascha Kaléko. After a traineeship and the subsequent work as an editor, she is now the editor-in-chief of the ZDF’s editorial department “Children and Youth”. She developed the series Siebenstein and acted as an expert on protection of minors at the FSK (age rating board of the German film industry). She was in charge of several international workshops for the Prix Jeunesse, presented it twice and was also head of the jury of the Japan-prize.

Possidónio Cachapa, filmmaker and screenwriter

Possidónio Cachapa is a Portuguese writer, screenwriter and director, with a university degree in Modern Languages and Literature. He is not only the author of several highly praised books such as “Maternal Gentleness”, “Travel to the Heart of Birds”, and “The White World of Rabbit-Boy” but he has also directed several shorts and the feature documentary “Farwell the Wind”. Furthermore he is director of IndieJunior, the children and youth section of IndieLisboa International Independent Film Festival – but he also puts together short film programs on his own.