Berlin International Film Festival
Berlin, Germany
100
Tier AFIAPFOscarScreenings
Festival dossier
LUCAS – International Festival for Young Film Lovers
Frankfurt am Main, Germany · Est. 1978 · Established legitimate festival with meaningful track record
Tier BTrusted
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
63
Legitimacy ScoreShould I submit?
Solid signals — do normal diligence
Tier B looks established enough for many filmmakers. Check fees, programming fit, and recent editions before submitting.
- No physical screenings
- 48 years of verifiable history
- 2 verified pro signals
Overview
LUCAS – International Festival for Young Film Lovers is Germany’s oldest festival for young audiences and is organized by DFF - Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum. Within the competitions »Kids«, »Teens« and »Youngsters«, LUCAS puts its focus on outstanding, international productions of children and youth films, including all filmic forms from fiction, documentary, to animation and experimental formats. For the short film competitions »Kids« and »Teens« we accept productions with a length of max. 30 minutes. The submitted short film should preferably have its German Premiere at LUCAS. We accept submissions for the feature film competition only in exceptional cases. During the festival week, filmmakers, producers, film literacy experts and professionals from all over the world meet in Frankfurt and Offenbach, attend the festival program together and discuss the films with the young audience. Under the label “Get Involved!” LUCAS invites young film lovers to actively participate: They are part of the festival juries, host the Q&As, present films as patrons, and document the festival.
Last updated Sep 17, 2026
Legitimacy Analysis
Positive Indicators (+28 pts)
- 48 years of verifiable history
- 2 verified pro signals
- Verified trusted status
- Legitimacy signals outweigh concerns (3 vs 1)
Red Flags (-15 pts)
- No physical screenings
Trust Signals
Positive Signals
- Documented history with archived programs
- Has FilmFreeway community ratings
Festival Details
Founded
1978
FilmFreeway community
Avg. rating
3.7/ 5
Reviews
9
Synced 4 days ago
- Filmmaker
Very nice festival with lovely people running it. The communication was geat as well.
- Filmmaker
Fantastic Filmfestival which puts the children in its focus! Great "value" and excellent films. I DO recommend it!
- Filmmaker
A festival like it is really a necessary one. Please keep working on generating this exquisite programming for the audiences.
- Filmmaker
Perfect film festival Thank you so much for all your helps
- Filmmaker
It was such a pleasure working with the LUCAS team. And we were so happy that our film, "Girl No. 60427", won first prize in the teenage section! It is so important that today's youth, bombarded with non-stop nonsense on social media, are exposed to intelligent, thought-provoking film material. Thank you LUCAS for your important work.
FilmFreeway reviews are filmmaker opinions, not our score. Cross-check red flags before paying fees.
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