Prize Winners (2013)
Siebenstein: Nearest and Dearest
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Strong feelings and emotions come through this nice story of 6-minute length. The protagonist Elmar, a young boy, is deeply affected by Carla’s departure, the older sister who is leaving home for the university. But life changes when he realizes that he will have to be the older brother now, taking care and responsibility for Milla, his younger sister. Respecting the point of view of a child, this original and unique piece of animation with delicate colors, tells a touching and familiar story, using universal language, portraying the feelings and emotional development of this little boy, a positive character for children to identify with.
Brothers and sisters tend to be the most important people as you grow up, next to your parents. They offer themselves as the first playground for experiencing emotions and encountering the world. Marcus Sauermann, the author of Nearest and Dearest and I both admit that the story about Elmar and his sister Carla had been inspired by our own experience in the childhood. Marcus is a wonderful writer, with a special gift to capture the basic emotions first encountered in childhood. He manages to dig up the child within and depicts the genuine concerns of children. All of us, producers of children’s television, have encountered and experienced these concerns ourselves, but sometimes we forget and need someone who is still connected to that world. To me, Marcus Sauermann is the Nearest and Dearest writer of children’s stories and I am very happy that his story was awarded the JAPAN PRIZE.