The 2025 Berlin International Film Festival has announced the winners of its Generation Kplus section, the festival’s sidebar dedicated to children’s cinema, with top honors going to The Botanist by Jing Yi and Michel Gondry’s animated feature Maya, Give Me a Title.
Jing Yi’s debut feature The Botanist (Zhi Wu Xue Jia) took home the Grand Prix of the international jury for best film. Set in a remote valley in China’s Xinjiang province, the film follows a young boy named Arsin, who lives with his grandmother and spends his days collecting plant specimens while navigating the slow yet inevitable changes within his secluded community. Featuring a dreamlike atmosphere and striking natural imagery, The Botanist stood out for its immersive portrayal of a world untouched by modernity.
The international jury also gave a special mention to Japanese director Satoko Yokohama’s Umibe é Iku Michi (Seaside Serendipity), which explores themes of childhood friendship and self-discovery along Japan’s coastal landscapes. In the short film category, Sylwia Szkiłądź’s Autokar won best short film, while Colombian filmmaker Irati Dojura Landa Yagarí received a special mention for Akababuru: Expresión de asombro (Akababuru: Expression of Astonishment), a visually expressive meditation on childhood wonder.
Selected by a children’s jury of young moviegoers, the Crystal Bear for best film went to Maya, Give Me a Title, the latest feature from quirky French filmmaker Michel Gondry (The Science of Sleep, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). The whimsical stop-motion film is a collaborative creation between Gondry and his daughter Maya. Beginning when she was 4 and continuing for six years, his little girl would be his ideas person, called upon to come up with a title for a movie adventure in which she’d star, with Papa Gondry tasked with using the title as the basis for a stop-motion short for Maya to watch.
A special mention was awarded to Zirkuskind (Circusboy), by Julia Lemke and Anna Koch, a documentary-style feature exploring the unique world of a child growing up in a traveling circus.
The children’s jury also named Little Rebels Cinema Club by Khozy Rizal as best short film, recognizing its innovative approach to storytelling, while Vera van Wolferen’s animated short Down in the Dumps received a special mention for its charming visual craftsmanship.
