OPEN CALL for AUGENBLICK MAL! 2027

AUGENBLICK MAL! is the only nationwide theatre festival for young audiences in Germany. It has been held every two years in Berlin since 1991. The festival is a meeting ground and experimental field for everyone being active in the performing arts for young audiences. It is a place of learning and a source of inspiration.

AUGENBLICK MAL! presents ten productions from Germany. It creates spaces for reflection and discussion, facilitating exchange about the guest performances and their social, political and aesthetic relevance.

AUGENBLICK MAL! is co-created by children and young people. Accessibility, the removal of barriers, and actions that challenge established power relations and structural discrimination are fundamental to the conception and implementation of the festival.

AUGENBLICK MAL! invites visitors from Germany and around the world who work or are training in the performing arts for young audiences, as well as children, young people, families and anyone interested in the festival program. It fosters collegial cohesion and invites constructive debate about art.

AUGENBLICK MAL! celebrates the moment and broadens our view of what is to come.

Enter your productions into the competition!

Professional theatres of all genres, ensembles, collectives and performers in the performing arts for young audiences in Germany (hereinafter referred to as theatres) have the opportunity to submit their own productions for the festival. These proposals can be submitted via the website www.kjtz.info from 15 October 2025 to 15 May 2026. Only productions that premiered or will premiere between 16 May 2024 and 15 May 2026 will be considered.

There are two submission deadlines:

First deadline: 15 October – 15 December 2025
Productions that premiered between 16 May 2024 and 15 August 2025 can be submitted here.
Second deadline: 12 January – 15 May 2026
Productions that premiered or will premiere between 16 August 2025 and 15 May 2026 can be submitted here.

Please indicate performance dates from 1 January 2026 onwards. The curatorial team will begin live viewings with these nominations.

NEW: To make viewings easier to plan, productions with a late premiere date—between March 15 and May 15, 2026—can be proposed in advance for the first time. The production recording and materials not yet available at the time of submission must be provided by 8 June 2026 at the latest. These proposals will be visible to the curators but will not be available on the website until the end of June.

End of the viewing period: 30 June 2026

How many and which productions can be proposed?

Each theatre may submit up to three proposals in total (1 production for children, 1 production for young people, 1 additional production for children or young people). The theatre decides in which category two proposals are submitted. 

AUGENBLICK MAL! 2027 aims to involve children and young people in the proposal process. This means: If a proposal has been selected with the active participation of children and young people, a theatre may propose a total of four productions (two for children, two for young people). The process leading to the participatory proposal needs to be described by the children and young people in the online form.

What needs to be submitted?

The data relating to the proposals must be submitted via an online form on the website www.kjtz.info. The proposals must be accompanied by a complete, informative and technically error-free video production recording as an MP4 file (max. 1 GB, 6 Mbit/s, sound in AAC stereo) and other production material. The live viewing will be based on the recording of the production.

What other conditions must be met?

The proposing theatre guarantees performance dates in the viewing period from January to June 2026.
The proposing theatre guarantees that, if selected, the production will be available for a guest performance in Berlin for the entire duration of the festival from 13 to 18 April 2027.

Rehearsal processes cannot be funded by the festival.
In the event of a festival invitation, a guest performance contract will be concluded.

How do you submit a proposal?

The online form can be found on the website www.kjtz.info. The form cannot be saved temporarily. Therefore, please gather all information about your proposal in advance!
Fill out the online form completely and submit it. You will receive a confirmation email containing all the data you entered. Please check that it is correct and complete.
This email also contains a link that you can use to activate access to the KJTZBOX cloud storage. After activation, you will receive two emails with your access data loglist (link and password).
Once your account has been activated, you have 14 days to upload your files. Please upload a complete, informative and technically error-free production recording in MP4 format (max. 1 GB, 6 Mbit/s, sound in AAC stereo) as well as additional production material. Tips for uploading can be found under Support on the website www.kjtz.info.
After the files have been successfully uploaded to KJTZBOX, your suggestion will be reviewed by our editorial team and approved for the curators.
Once approved, the suggestions will appear in the corresponding submenu Proposals Children's Theatre or Proposals Youth Theatre on the website. They will be published in the order in which they were submitted.

How does the decision-making process work?

All proposed productions will first be viewed by the four curators via video and then, if applicable, on site. The team includes two young curators who are not older than 27 years of age. An invitation to the festival generally requires a live viewing by at least one curator.

In June 2026, the curators will make an interim selection and compile a longlist. The theatres concerned will be informed and the longlist will be published on www.kjtz.info. In the next step, the longlist of productions is planned to be reviewed by the children's participation group and they will give their feedback for the curators.

In September 2026, the curators will make the final selection of guest performances for AUGENBLICK MAL! 2027. The KJTZ will then announce the festival invitations.