Children's Film Festival Vienna 2025: Record visitors and impressive prizes!

Children's Film Festival Vienna 2025: Record visitors and impressive prizes!

The 37th International Children's Film Festival Vienna delighted everyone who is interested in good children's cinema from November 15th to 23rd, 2025. With an increase in visitors of around 1,000 people compared to the previous year, the festival has clearly hit the mark. The venues CINEMAGIC, Votiv Kino, Cine Center and Gartenbaukino offered a platform for exciting films from all over the world over the nine days of the festival.

Under the artistic management team consisting of Anna Hofmann, Ines Wagner and Elisabeth Lichtkoppler, a varied program was presented that celebrated the diversity of global children's films. In a total of 23 films, including 16 feature films and 7 short films, themes ranging from adventure to humor to coming-of-age were powerfully addressed. The focus was particularly on the intensive exchange between filmmakers and the audience, which gave the festival a special touch.

Prizes and awards

Numerous awards were presented at the glamorous awards ceremony on November 23rd. The Children's Jury Prize went to the Danish film “Honey”, while the Dutch film “Lampje” was honored for its visually striking narrative. The audience award went to “The Secret Floor” by Norbert Lechner, which tackles the difficult topic of the Nazi past. This film not only made an impression on Viennese audiences, but also held its own at other European children's film festivals.

For the first time in the festival's history, an Austrian expert jury awarded a prize for the best film, which shows that the young filmmakers are also valued by their colleagues. Traditionally, the festival kicked off with the Dutch action comedy “Superpowers in the Head”, whose premiere was attended by leading actor Finn Vogels.

Variety of offers

The festival also offers workshops and film discussions that give young audiences additional insights into film production. Accompanying materials make it easier to delve deeper into the themes of the films even after the cinema visit. And while the Vienna event is now coming to an end, a regional festival edition is still running in Styria until the end of November, and further performances are also planned in Krems.

The next International Children's Film Festival Vienna will take place again in November, from November 14th to 22nd, 2026. This means that the organizers will keep their finger on the pulse of the times and guarantee that the children's film adventure will continue in the future.

The organizers have shown a good hand and show that children's films have an important place in the local cultural scene. The festival remains not only a platform for little cineastes, but also an unforgettable experience that captivates many children and young people. More information about this can also be found on The Spot and Hedi Grager find.