Film festivals in Germany
Most of the major film festivals in Germany were founded in the 1950s. In the 1990s there was also a sharp increase in new film festivals in Germany, parallel to the digitization of film .
Founded 1950–1959
The Berlinale in February every year is considered the most important international film festival in Germany and one of the most important in the world. It has been taking place in Berlin since 1951 .
The International Film Festival Mannheim-Heidelberg , since 1952 in Mannheim , since 1994 by the inclusion of Heidelberg a festival in two cities. It is considered to be one of the most important international film festivals for auteur films by young filmmakers.
What the Berlinale is for feature films , the Oberhausen International Short Film Festival in May is for short films . Founded in 1954, they are also considered to be the world's oldest short film festival .
The most important festival for documentary and animated film in Germany has been the Leipzig Film Festival since 1955 .
The Nordic Film Days in Lübeck have been one of the world's largest festivals for Scandinavian films outside Scandinavia as well as for films from the Baltic States and Schleswig-Holstein since 1956 .
Founded 1960–1979
The Hof International Film Festival , founded in 1968, shows German and world premieres, with a focus on German productions. The festival is seen as a springboard for the next generation of German film.
From 1972 onwards, the FDJ student film days of the University of Film and Television "Konrad Wolf" Potsdam-Babelsberg were held on the DEFA site in Babelsberg , but these were discontinued after the fall of the Wall. After a short break, the film festival was renewed in 1995 under the name sehsuchte ; today it is the largest international student film festival in Europe.
The Würzburg International Film Weekend has been held annually since 1973 . Audience awards are given for feature films, documentaries, short films and films for children and young people.
The international festival for young film fans Lucas (film festival) in Frankfurt am Main (since 1974) is the only German film festival founded between 1960 and 1989 that is accredited by the FIAPF film producers' association .
Another festival for children's films (and children's television) is the Goldene Spatz , which has been held in Gera every two years since 1977 . Since 2003, Erfurt has been an additional venue.
The main film festivals for German-language documentary film are the Duisburg Film Week , founded in 1977 , the Munich International Documentary Film Festival (DOK.fest) , which has been held annually since 1985, and the innovative Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival , which was launched in 1982.
The Open Air Filmfest Weiterstadt , founded in 1977, is an international film festival for feature, documentary and short films.
The International Borderland Film Days in Selb were named the “1. Wunsiedler Filmtage ”was founded and carried out in the youth center in Wunsiedel . In 1978 the festival moved to Bad Alexandersbad and received its current name. The event has been held in Selb in the Kino-Center since 1981 and is considered the oldest film festival with an Eastern European focus. Today the Grenzland-Filmtage deal with border issues in general.
The Biberach Film Festival in Biberach an der Riss (founded in 1979) is a relatively small festival for German films.
Established 1980–1989
The Max Ophüls Preis film festival is an annual film festival in Saarbrücken for young filmmakers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It was founded in 1980 by Albrecht Stuby.
In 1981 the Filmzwerge took place in Münster for the first time ; The Münster Film Festival now includes both a feature film and the traditional short film competition.
The International Festival of the Munich Film Schools also took place for the first time in 1981 . Like the Munich Film Festival, it is organized by the Internationale Münchner Filmwochen GmbH and is today one of the most important young talent festivals in the world.
The international short film festival Berlin of the agency interfilm Berlin has existed since 1982 .
One of the world's largest and most important film festivals for animation is the Stuttgart Trickfilmfestival , which was founded in 1982 and has been held annually since 2005. It shows and awards the best short and long films as well as series in the field of animation and serves to promote young talent.
Up and Coming in Hanover is an important German film festival for young directors (nationwide since 1982, international since 1991).
The oldest international women’s film festival in Germany is Feminale in Cologne (founded in 1983). In 2006 Feminale merged with femme totale to form the International Women's Film Festival Dortmund / Cologne .
The French Film Festival Tübingen-Stuttgart has existed since 1983 , a forum for mainly feature films from the entire French-speaking area.
The Munich Film Festival, founded in 1983 with a focus on feature films, is one of the summer film festivals with the highest number of visitors in Germany.
In 1985 the NoBudgetFestival Hamburg was founded, which quickly made a name for itself as a place for absurd and trashy films by emphasizing low-budget short films, because it appealed to and reached a clientele that did not find themselves at the Oberhausen International Short Film Festival, for example. Due to the increase in the number of films submitted annually, the need was soon felt to differentiate the films presented more strongly, especially since many of the films selected were denied the no-budget character. The festival therefore expanded its program and at the same time was renamed the Hamburg International Short Film Festival .
Also in 1985, takes place in Munich for the first International Documentary Film Festival in Munich and Freiburg , the first gay film festival Freiburg instead.
Another festival founded in 1985 under the name “Frankfurter Schülerfilmtage” is the visionale , the oldest Hessian film festival for young people up to the age of 27. The visionale , at which the best short films are selected over a festival weekend , takes place in November in Frankfurt am Main.
In 1986 the “Days of Independent Film” were founded in Osnabrück . In 2001 the festival was given a stronger socio-political orientation and has been called the Independent FilmFest Osnabrück ever since . It is one of the oldest film festivals in Lower Saxony .
The Braunschweig International Film Festival has been particularly important for young European cinema since 1986 and is the largest film festival in Lower Saxony.
In 1988, CineGraph - Hamburg Center for Film Research organized the first international film history congress , which has been held every November in Hamburg ever since. In 2004 the congresses were expanded to include CineFest - International Festival of German Film Heritage. In addition to CineGraph, the organizer is the Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, Berlin. Each year the festival has one main theme. After the event in Hamburg, parts of the film program will also be shown in Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Zurich / Lausanne and Udine / Gorizia.
The international short film festival Filmfest Dresden has been held annually since 1989. It awards the Golden Horsemen separately according to national and international competition.
Established since 1990
In 1990 the annual Lesbian and Gay Film Festival Hamburg - International Queer Film Festival was founded, which in the 2010s regularly attracted 15,500 visitors. The second largest film festival in Hamburg is internationally recognized and significant as the oldest and largest queer film festival in Germany. Audience awards have been given to short films since 1997 and feature films since 1998. The festival prizes were expanded to include the “Made in Germany” award for young film talent in 2006 and a jury award since 2009.
The film art festival Mecklenburg-Vorpommern takes place annually in the first week of May in Schwerin. It was founded in 1991 as the Schwerin Film Festival. With 17,000 spectators in 2009, it is the largest public festival in the new federal states. The flying ox is the main prize of the feature film competition. The Golden Ox , the festival's honorary prize , has also been awarded since 2002 .
The Bochum International Video Festival was founded in 1991 by the Theater, Film and TV Studies Student Council at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum campus and takes place in the Musisches Zentrum there and is funded by the North Rhine-Westphalia Film Foundation and supported by the Bochum Theater .
The OpenEyes Filmfest Marburg is an open-air film festival founded in 1994 and is interested in current short films of all genres and formats from Europe. Also since 1994, the Göttingen International Ethnographic Film Festival has been inviting people interested in ethnographic films to downtown Göttingen every two years in May. In September 1994, the Oldenburg International Film Festival also came into being . The focus of the festival is on German and American independent productions. The aim of the foundation was to establish an unconventional and innovative festival.
After an interruption caused by the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Potsdam Film Festival sehsuchten was re-established in 1995 ; today it is the largest student film festival in Europe. Every year up to 10,000 film enthusiasts, trade visitors and journalists come to the festival, which takes place in the immediate vicinity of Studio Babelsberg .
The Japanese film festival Nippon Connection was founded in 2000 . It is the largest festival for Japanese cinema in the world and takes place annually in early summer. It originated from a student initiative and is still organized on a voluntary basis. A special feature is the extensive cultural framework program.
As a relatively young film festival (founded in 2001) goEast in Wiesbaden is the only festival in the world for Central and Eastern European film to be accredited by the FIAPF film producers' association.
In 2002 the NaturVision Film Festival for nature, animal, environmental and sustainability films was founded in Neuschönau in the Bavarian Forest . It has been taking place in Ludwigsburg in Baden-Württemberg since 2012. The venue is the Central Theater Ludwigsburg. Since 2014 there has also been a free open-air cinema, a market with regional and sustainable stalls, information stands and a science slam during the festival days.
Since 2004, the independent film initiative KinoBerlino has been holding its annual festival with a workshop as an Internationales KinoKabaret as well as monthly film evenings in the oldest still active movie theater in Germany, the Kino Moviemento in Berlin . Film enthusiasts come together with creative people and create short films as exercises in a few days without any interest in exploitation. Hundreds of works were created and shown at sold out performances in the cinema. Since 2007 this festival has been directed by director and producer Dave Lojek . The cinema movement encompasses around 70 cities worldwide and brings together around 10,000 filmmakers.
The 11mm film festival has also been held in Berlin since 2004 and shows films with a focus on football .
The Indian Inuit: The North America Film Festival was first held in Stuttgart in 2004. It takes place every two years.
Since 2005 there has been the Festival of German Films in Ludwigshafen am Rhein as an offshoot of the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival , where the German Film Art Prize is awarded. Another new festival for German-language feature films and short films or young German cinema is FILMZ - Festival of German Cinema , which has been taking place in Mainz since 2001 in December . The International Short Film Festival (ISFF) Detmold has also been taking place since 2005 with the aim of establishing cultural exchange and short films in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe region .
The Five Lakes Film Festival in the "Fünf-Seen-Land" in the Starnberg district in Bavaria has existed since 2007 . It specializes in particular in the latest productions from Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
The Lichter Filmfest Frankfurt International is a film festival that has been held annually in Frankfurt and the Rhine-Main region since 2008. The festival shows an international competition program on an annually changing topic with an interdisciplinary accompanying program. In addition, regional film productions from Hesse and the Rhine-Main area compete for the best short and long film.
In 2009 the international short film festival shnit (founded in Bern in 2003) was held for the first time in Cologne . Films up to 15 minutes are the focus of the international shnit-open competition with films from around 25 countries. And since 2009, the Friedrichshafen Film Festival , which is organized over several days by the Friedrichshafen Cultural Office, has been taking place on Lake Constance under the title “Now or Never”. There are short films (including experimental films and animated films )) as well as documentary films created by young directors from the German-speaking countries in the previous two years shown and total prize money.
The 6010 Film and Video Festival (founded in 2010) is the first festival in Germany to focus on one-minute videos and short documentaries up to ten minutes in length. The venue is Hilchenbach with the only art and art house cinema in South Westphalia .
The Snowdance Independent Film Festival , which takes place every January in Landsberg am Lech and focuses on feature-length films that were produced (almost) without state funding, has existed since 2014 . Films that are not dominated by major studios or TV stations are also preferred.
The Obsessive Underground Festival has also been held in Hamburg since 2014, which focuses on German-language underground and independent feature films and takes place every six months.
The Hamburg Film Festival has specialized in international films since 1991 (with previous festivals) .
Thematic film festivals are the Rüsselsheim Film Festival (annually since 1994) with a focus on satirical short films, the Freiburg Film Forum in Freiburg im Breisgau (since 1997 every two years) with a focus on ethnology , the Oldenburg International Film Festival (since 1994) with a focus on American independent film and fantasy Film festival in several German cities with a focus on science fiction , horror and thriller . The Seahorse Festival has been an international children's film festival in Hanover since 2000. The European Film Festival of the Generations on the topics of age and demographic change has existed since 2010 and takes place nationwide in around 100 cities and municipalities. The Cologne Comedy Film Festival awards every year in October as part of the German Comedy Award awards for the best domestic and foreign film comedies. One of the most important intercultural film festivals is the Turkey / Germany film festival , which takes place annually in March in Nuremberg .
The Gay Film Week Freiburg in Freiburg is Established in 1984, the oldest event of its kind in Germany. The lesbian-gay film festival Perlen has been taking place in Hanover since 1997, which in turn had its roots in 1979 as the Hanover Gay Film Festival.
Other new film festivals in Germany (by month):
| festival | place | time | Focus / type of festival |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bamberg Short Film Festival | Bamberg | January | Focus: German, Austrian, Swiss short films |
| SilentFilmMusicTage Erlangen | gain | January | |
| UFO Leipzig | Leipzig | January | since 2005 on the initiative of students, aimed at young filmmakers |
| Young & crazy | Hanau | January | Youth short film festival, aimed at young film talents aged 14-27 years |
| Argentine Film Days | Leipzig | January February | |
| Friedrichshafen Film Festival | Friedrichshafen | January February | New short films by young directors from German-speaking countries |
| Videonale | Berlin | February | |
| Genrenals | Berlin | February | Focus: German genre film |
| global film festival | Berlin | spring | Focus: criticism of globalization |
| Film Festival Turkey / Germany | Nuremberg | March | |
| Lights Film Festival Frankfurt International | Frankfurt am Main | March | |
| Karlsruhe Silent Film Festival | Karlsruhe | March | |
| Regensburg Short Film Week | regensburg | March | Short film festival for animation, fiction, experimental and documentary film. |
| Church film festival Recklinghausen | Recklinghausen | March | Focus: audience discusses new films with filmmakers; Children's films (each with an award ceremony) |
| Schollinale - Film Festival of the North | Buxtehude | March | German-language short film festival |
| Independent Days | Karlsruhe | April | Independent film |
| britspotting | Berlin | April | British & Irish Film Festival |
| cellu l'art short film festival | Jena | April | Short film festival with international competition and an annually changing country focus |
| Dreilandfilmfestival | Goerlitz | April | operations have been discontinued since 2009 |
| FiSH - Festival in the city harbor | Rostock | April | Focus: The young German film |
| Weekend of Fear | Nuremberg , Erlangen | April May | |
| Animated Film Festival Stuttgart | Stuttgart | April May | |
| CinEScultura | regensburg | April May | Spanish and Latin American films |
| achtung berlin - new berlin film award | Berlin | April May | Focus: Films from and about Berlin-Brandenburg |
| La.Meko Film Festival Landau | Landau in the Palatinate | April May | |
| backup festival | Weimar | May | Festival for future-oriented film and video formats |
| CineLatino | Tübingen | May | |
| Schleswig-Holstein Film Festival A feast for the eyes | Kiel | May | |
| Neisse film festival | Großhennersdorf | May | Focus: German, Polish, Czech and other Eastern European contemporary and historical feature films, documentaries and short films |
| film art festival Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania | Schwerin | May | |
| International Bochum Video Festival | Bochum | May | |
| Japan Film Festival Hamburg | Hamburg | May | |
| International film festival Emden-Norderney | Emden and Norderney | May June | Focus: feature film from north-western Europe |
| Federal Festival of Young Film | St. Ingbert | May June | Focus: short and medium-length films by filmmakers under the age of 29 |
| Nippon Connection | Frankfurt am Main | May June | Japanese film festival |
| International Short Film Festival Detmold | Detmold | June | |
| Rüsselsheim Film Festival | Rüsselsheim am Main | June | |
| Federal.Festival.Film. | changing locations | June | Presentation and awarding of the best films from the German Youth Film Award and the German Generation Film Award |
| Cinarchea | Kiel | June | |
| Munich International Short Film Festival | Munich | June | |
| OpenEyes Filmfest Marburg | Marburg | July | International short film festival with audience competition |
| Jufinale | changing Bavarian cities | July | Youth film festival in Bavaria |
| International low & no budget short film festival | Stuttgart, Mainz, Heilbronn | July | |
| Indian Film Festival Stuttgart | Stuttgart | July | |
| WaLa International Film Festival | Ladenburg | July | |
| NaturVision film festival | Ludwigsburg | July | International nature, animal and environment film festival |
| Globians Film Festival | Potsdam | August | independent documentary film festival |
| the NEW HEIMAT film | Klempenow Castle | August | |
| International Festival Cinema Libre | Hamburg | August | |
| Bud Spencer and Terence Hill Festival | changing places | August September | Focus: Bud Spencer and Terence Hill films |
| International Film Awards Berlin | Berlin | September | International indie film festival |
| Five Lakes Film Festival | Starnberg | September | Focus: Central European feature films and documentaries |
| International Film Festival Oldenburg | Oldenburg | September | Independent film festival |
| Internationales KinoKabaret Berlin | Berlin | September | Largest Berlin film workshop & open short film festival |
| GREEN SCREEN | Eckernförde | September | International nature film festival |
| ContraVision film festival | Berlin | September | International short film festival |
| Film art fair Leipzig | Leipzig | September | |
| Pool - International TanzFilmPlattform Berlin | Berlin | September | |
| Ahrenshooper film nights | Ahrenshoop | September | Focus: current German-language feature films |
| HARD: LINE Festival | regensburg | September | Main focus: horror, thriller and science fiction |
| Sepsis Campetition | Jena | September | Focus : sepsis |
| Nuremberg International Human Rights Film Festival | Nuremberg | October | Focus: feature films, documentaries and animated films with human rights issues |
| International Film Festival Potsdam | Potsdam | October | |
| Fetish Film Festival | Kiel | autumn | |
| Wismar Film Festival | Wismar | October | |
| European film festival of the generations | Heidelberg, Frankfurt and in over 100 other locations | October | Films about aging and demographic change |
| Film plus | Cologne | October | Focus: film editing |
| shnit | Cologne | October | International short film festival up to 15 minutes, 5 days |
| Hof International Film Festival | court | October | |
| Film Festival Cologne | Cologne | October | |
| International film festival Schlingel | Chemnitz | October | |
| International film festival Eberswalde | Eberswalde | October | |
| Final Cut | Marburg, children's and youth film | October | |
| Wismar Children's Film Festival | Wismar | October | |
| Independent FilmFest Osnabrück | Osnabrück | October | |
| Webcuts | Berlin | October | |
| Constance short.film.games | Constancy | October | |
| International Mountain Film Festival Tegernsee | Tegernsee | October | |
| The Korean Film Festival | Frankfurt am Main | October | Korean film festival |
| documentART - European Film Festival for Documentaries | Neubrandenburg / Szczecin | October November | |
| Asia film festival | Munich | October November | |
| FilmFestival Cottbus | cottbus | October November | Festival of Eastern European Films |
| Eat My Shorts - Hagen Short Film Festival | Hagen | October November | Short film festival |
| Utopia film festival | Bremen | October November | Focus: Films on the topic of utopia |
| Germany After Dark Horror Festival | Gronau NRW | October November | |
| ArtFilmBiennale | Cologne | October November | Art film & cinematography |
| Christian Pocket Film Award | Unna | November | Short film festival |
| KFFK / Short Film Festival Cologne | Cologne | November | |
| Views from the Ruhr area | Bochum | November | |
| exground film festival | Wiesbaden | November | |
| Munich Ethnic Film Festival | Munich | November | |
| Japanese New Film Festival | Osnabrück | November | |
| Lünen cinema festival | Luenen | November | Focus: German cinema |
| French Film Days Leipzig / Halle | Leipzig / Halle (Saale) | November | |
| Women's worlds | Tübingen | November | Film festival |
| Arab film festival | Berlin | November | |
| International Film Festival Passau | Passau | November | |
| International Film Festival Frankfurt | Frankfurt am Main | November | |
| The 24 hours of Nuremberg | Nuremberg | November | International short film festival |
| Flensburg Short Film Festival | Flensburg | November | Short film festival |
| Film Festival Düsseldorf | Dusseldorf | November | Short film festival |
| Transit film festival | regensburg | November | |
| German human rights film award | Nuremberg | December | Focus: films with human rights issues |
| Festival of Failed Films | German-speaking area | December to February | among others in Berlin, Frankfurt Hamburg, Cologne, Munich, Linz, Salzburg, Vienna |
| Formula Mundi | Schwäbisch Hall | international film festival | |
| FullDome Festival | Jena, Zeiss Planetarium | ||
| To the Golden Deer | Mannheim & Heidelberg | all year round | Short film festival |
literature
- Matthias Greuling: Cannes, Venice, Berlin: The big film festivals: a service book for filmmakers and media representatives . Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2004, ISBN 3-8334-1064-7
- Kai Reichel-Heldt: Film festivals in Germany: between cultural-political ideals and economic-political realities . Lang, Frankfurt am Main a. a. 2007, ISBN 978-3-631-56242-0
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Internationales Filmfestival , on kino-braunschweig.de
- ↑ Kultur & Art Initiative e. V. Accessed April 10, 2020 . , Hangar 21 - Kulturfabrik - Detmolder Stadthallen GmbH
- ↑ Snowdance Independent Film Festival. Retrieved April 10, 2020 .
- ↑ Obsessive Underground Festival ( Memento from March 15, 2016 in the web archive archive.today )
- ↑ Ulrike Mau: Between fairy tales & horror comedy. In: welt.de . February 27, 2014, accessed October 7, 2018 .
- ^ Japan Film Festival Hamburg
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