# Filmfest Hamburg

FILMFEST HAMBURG is an international film festival in Hamburg, the third-largest of its kind in Germany (after Berlin and Munich). It shows national and international feature and documentary films in eleven sections. The range of the program stretches from art house films to innovative mainstream cinema, presenting the first feature films of young unknown directors together with films by internationally established directors. In 2017 more than 40,000 people attended 250 screenings of 141 films.
Albert Wiederspiel has been the director of the festival since 2003.

## History

FILMFEST HAMBURG had various predecessors dating from the 1950s through to the 1980s. It was founded in late 1991 and first held in 1992. Academy Award winners and nominees such as Clint Eastwood, Jodie Foster, Christoph Waltz, Atom Egoyan, Julian Schnabel and Tilda Swinton, Dogma-founder Lars von Trier, award-winning director Kim Ki-duk and German directors such as Wim Wenders, Fatih Akin, Andreas Dresen and Tom Tykwer attended the festival in the past.

## Festival program

The program of FILMFEST HAMBURG is composed of the following permanent sections:
* Veto! – This section covers politically motivated film issues which are also awarded at the festival.
* Voilà! – comprises films from French speaking countries.
* Vitrina – comprises films from Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries.
* Asia Express – showcases films from all parts of Asia.
* Transatlantic – shows contemporary English language-based North American cinema.
* Kaleidoskop – is an overview of world cinema.
* Hamburger Filmschau – dedicated to films by Hamburg-based filmmakers.
* Große Freiheit – new German cinema.
* Televisionen – shows German TV productions on the big screen.
* MICHEL Kinder und Jugend Filmfest – is the section for children and adolescents.

## Awards
### Douglas Sirk Award

This award is presented annually since 1995 to a personality who has made outstanding achievements within film culture and film industry. It receives its name from director Douglas Sirk, born in Hamburg as Detlef Sierck.
* 1995: Clint Eastwood
* 1996: Stephen Frears
* 1997: Jodie Foster
* 1998: Peter Weir
* 1999: Jim Jarmusch
* 2000: Wong Kar-wai
* 2001: Majid Majidi
* 2002: Aki Kaurismäki
* 2003: Isabelle Huppert
* 2004: François Ozon
* 2005: Zentropa
* 2006: Gérard Depardieu
* 2007: David Cronenberg
* 2008: Atom Egoyan
* 2009: –
* 2010: Julian Schnabel
* 2011: Andreas Dresen and Peter Rommel
* 2012: Kim Ki-duk
* 2013: Tilda Swinton
* 2014: Fatih Akin
* 2015: Catherine Deneuve
* 2016: –
* 2017: Wim Wenders
* 2018: Jafar Panahi
* 2019: Nina Hoss
* 2020: –
* 2021: Leos Carax

### Hamburg Producers Award for German Cinema Productions

The Hamburg Producers Award for German Cinema Productions has been awarded in the new section Große Freiheit – Filme aus Deutschland since 2018. The producer of the winning film will receive 25,000 euros. The prize money will be provided by the Ministry of Culture and Media.
* 2018: Das schönste Paar, Producers: Jamila Wenske and Sol Bondy, Director: Sven Taddicken
* 2019: Pelican Blood, Producer: Verena Gräfe-Höft (Junafilm), Directed by: Katrin Gebbe
* 2021: Niemand ist bei den Kälbern, Producer: Jonas Weydemann, Jakob Weydemann (Weydemann Bros.), Hamburg, Directed by: Sabrina Sarabi

### Hamburg Producers Award for European Cinema Co-Productions

The Hamburg Producers Award for European Cinema Co-Productions will be awarded to the films in the section Freihafen (Free Port) which will feature German-European co-productions
* 2014: Lost in Karastan, German producers: Daniel Zuta, Brandstorm Entertainment AG; Georgian Co-Producer: Vladimer Katcharava, 20 Steps Production
* 2015: One Floor Below, German producers: Christine Haupt and Alexander Ris, Neue Mediopolis Filmproduktion GmbH; Romanian Co-Producer: Dragos Vilcu, Multi Media Est
* 2016: Scarred Hearts, German producers: Maren Ade, Jonas Dornbach, Janine Jackowski, Komplizen Film; Romanian Co-Producer: Hi Film Productions
* 2017: Arrhythmia, German producers: Eva Blondiau, Color of May; Russian Co-Producers: CTB Film Company, Mars Media Entertainment; Finnish Co-Producers: Don Films, Post Control
* 2018: Sibel, German Co-Producer: Michael Eckelt (Riva Film, Hamburg) / Cinema-Grading: Les Films du Tambour, Paris
* 2019: You Will Die at Twenty (Sudan, Egypt, Norway, France, Germany); Producer: Michael Henrichs (Die Gesellschaft DGS, Cologne), Directed by: Amjad Abu Alala
* 2021: Lingui (France, Chad, Germany, Belgium); German co-producer Melanie Andernach (Made in Germany Filmproduktion) / Cinema grading: pilifilms, Paris, Directed by: Mahamat-Saleh Haroun

### Hamburg Producers Award for German Television Productions (formerly: TV Producers' Award)

This award for German TV productions is endowed with €25.000 provided by VFF, Verwertungsgesellschaft der Film- und Fernsehproduzenten mbH.
* 2006: BurkertBareiss (Producer: Gloria Burkert and Andreas Bareiss) for Ich wollte nicht töten, Germany. Directed by Dagmar Hirtz [de]
* 2007: magnolia Filmproduktion (Producer: Babette Schröder) for Kuckuckszeit [de], Germany. Directed by Johannes Fabrick [de]
* 2008: Bavaria Fernsehproduktion (Producer: Astrid Kahmke) for Let's Do It in Finnish [de], Germany. Directed by Marco Petry [de]
* 2009: Bremedia Filmproduktion GmbH (Producer: Claudia Schröder) for Murder on Amrum [de], Germany. Directed by Markus Imboden [de]
* 2010: Wüste Film (Producer: Ralph Schwingel / Stefan Schubert) for Give Me Your Heart [de], Germany. Directed by Nicole Weegmann [de]
* 2011: d.i.e. film GmbH (Producer: Ulrich Aselmann) for Tödlicher Rausch, Germany. Directed by Johannes Fabrick [de]
* 2012: Aspekt Telefilm-Produktion GmbH (Producer: Claudia Schröder) for Murderous Hunt [de], Germany. Directed by Markus Imboden [de]
* 2013: –
* 2014: filmpool fiction (Producer: Iris Kiefer) for Polizeiruf 110: Familiensache [de], Germany. Directed by Eoin Moore [de]
* 2015: Calypso Entertainment GmbH (Producer: Brit Possardt) for CHIX – Back on Stage, Germany. Directed by Jan Ruzicka [de]
* 2016: –
* 2017: Polyphon Film- und Fernsehgesellschaft (Producers: Hubertus Meyer-Burckhardt and Christoph Bicker) for Meine fremde Freundin [de], Germany. Directed by Stefan Krohmer [de]
* 2018: Relevant Film GmbH Hamburg (Producer: Heike Wiehle-Timm) for Aufbruch in die Freiheit [de], Germany. Directed by Isabel Kleefeld [de]
* 2019: Sutor Kolonko, Cologne, Producer: Ingmar Trost for Das freiwillige Jahr, Directed by Ulrich Köhler [de] and Henner Winckler [de]
* 2021: Fandango Film, Producer: Jürgen Schuster for Schlaflos in Portugal, Directed by Florian Froschmayer [de]

### Critics' Choice Award

* 2004: "Brothers", Denmark. Directed by: Susanne Bier
* 2005: "Iron Island", Iran. Written and directed by: Mohammad Rasoulof
* 2007: "Control", Netherlands. Directed by: Anton Corbijn
* 2008: "Frozen River", USA. Written and directed by: Courtney Hunt
* 2009: "Cold Souls", USA. Written and directed by: Sophie Barthes
* 2010: "Pulsar", Belgium. Directed by: Alex Stockmann
* 2011: "Take Shelter", USA. Directed by: Jeff Nichols
* 2012: "Lore", Germany/Australia/Great Britain. Written and directed by: Cate Shortland
* 2013: "Metro Manila", Great Britain/Philippines. Written and directed by: Sean Ellis
* 2014: "Hope, France. Written and directed by: Boris Lojkine
* 2015: "Neon Bull", Brazil/Uruguay/Netherlands. Written and directed by Gabriel Mascaro
* 2016: "Graduation", Romania. Directed by Cristian Mungiu
* 2017: "The Florida Project", USA. Directed by: Sean Baker
* 2018: "Our Struggles", Belgium. Directed by: Guillaume Senez
* 2019: Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains China. Directed by: Gu Xiaogang
* 2021: Vortex, France. Directed by: Gaspar Noé

### The Political Film of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung

The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung is awarding this prize at FILMFEST HAMBURG for the first time in 2013. Films aspiring to provide a political message are competing for the prize money of 5,000 euros.
* 2013: "Fire in the Blood", India. Written and directed by: Dylan Mohan Gray
* 2013: "Manuscripts Don't Burn", Iran. Written and directed by: Mohammad Rasoulof
* 2014: "Children 404", Russia. Directed by: Askold Kurov and Pavel Loparev
* 2015: "Every Face Has a Name". Directed by: Magnus Gertten
* 2016: "Tadmor", France/Lebanon. Directed by: Monika Borgmann and Lokman Slim
* 2017: "The Wait", Denmark. Directed by: Emil Langballe
* 2018: "On Her Shoulders", USA. Directed by: Alexandria Bombach
* 2019: "Bewegungen eines nahen Bergs", Austria, France. Directed by: Sebastian Brameshuber
* 2021: "La Civil", Belgium, Romania, Mexico. Directed by: Teodora Ana Mihai
* 2022: "How to Blow Up a Pipeline", USA. A Film by: "Daniel Goldhaber", "Ariela Barer", Jordan Sjol, Daniel Garber
* 2023: "In the Rearview", Poland, France, Ukraine. Directed by: Maciek Hamela

### Art Cinema Award

The Art Cinema Award was established by the Conféderation Internationale des Cinémas d'Art et d'Essai (CICAE). Films that have a German distributor can be nominated. Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein is contributing €5,000 to the award in support of PR measures by the German distributor.
* 2008: "35 Rum", France/Germany. Written and directed by: Claire Denis
* 2009: "Soul Kitchen", Germany. Written and directed by: Fatih Akin
* 2010: "Nowhere Boy", Great Britain/Canada. Directed by: Sam Taylor-Wood
* 2011: "Monsieur Lazhar", Canada. Written and directed by: Philippe Falardeau
* 2012: "Laurence Anyways", Canada. Written and directed by: Xavier Dolan
* 2013: "Venus in Fur", France/Poland. Written and directed by: Roman Polanski
* 2014: "Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem", Israel/France/Germany. Written and directed by: Ronit Elkabetz and Shlomi Elkabetz
* 2015: "Mustang", France/Turkey/Germany. Directed by: Deniz Gamze Ergüven
* 2016: "It's Only the End of the World", Canada/France. Directed by: Xavier Dolan
* 2017: "The Rider", USA. Directed by: Chloé Zhao
* 2018: "Woman at War", Iceland. Directed by: Benedikt Erlingsson
* 2019: 'Portrait of a Lady on Fire' France. Directed by: Céline Sciamma
* 2021: 'Paris, 13th District', France. Directed by: Jacques Audiard

### NDR Young Talent Award

In 2012 the NDR (Norddeutscher Rundfunk) sponsored the NDR Young Talent Award with a prize money of €5,000 .
* 2008: "Johnny Mad Dog", France. Written and directed by: Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire
* 2009: "Before my Eyes", Turkey. Written and directed by: Miraz Bezar
* 2010: "Oldboys", Denmark. Written and directed by: Nikolaj Steen
* 2011: "Avé", Bulgaria. Written and directed by: Konstantin Bojanov
* 2012: "Germania", Argentina. Written and directed by: Maximiliano Schonfeld
* 2013: "Short Term 12", USA. Written and directed by: Destin Cretton
* 2014: "Mary is Happy, Mary is Happy, Thailand. Written and directed by: Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit
* 2015: "Keeper", Belgium/France/Switzerland. Directed by: Guillaume Senez
* 2016: "Cold of Kalandar", Turkey. Directed by: Mustafa Kara
* 2017: "Beach Rats", USA. Directed by: Eliza Hittman
* 2018: "Little Tickles", France. Directed by: Andréa Bescond, Eric Métayer
* 2019: 'A Son', Tunisia, France. Directed by: Mehdi M. Barsaoui
* 2021: 'Hive', Kosovo, Switzerland, Albania, North Macedonia. Directed by: Blerta Basholli

### Commerzbank Audience Award

The audience gets to decide by public vote which of the competing films in the Eurovisuell section is their favorite and receives a prize money of €5,000, donated by the Commerzbank.
* 2004: "Dog Nail Clipper", Finland. Written and directed by: Markku Pölönen
* 2005: "Adams Äpfel", Denmark. Written and directed by: Anders Thomas Jensen
* 2008: "Willkommen bei den Sch'tis", France. Written and directed by: Dany Boon
* 2009: "Meet the Elisabeths", France. Directed by: Lucien Jean-Baptiste
* 2010: "Oldboys", Denmark. Written and directed by: Nikolaj Steen
* 2011: "King of Devil's Island", Norway. Directed by: Marius Holst
* 2012: "This Life", Denmark. Directed by: Anne-Grethe Bjarup Riis
* 2013: "The Brats", France. Written and directed by: Anthony Marciano
* 2014: "Hallåhallå", Sweden. Written and directed by: Maria Blom
* 2015: "Nice People", Sweden. Directed by: Karin af Klintberg and Anders Helgeson
* 2016: "The Day Will Come," Denmark. Directed by Jesper W. Nielsen
* 2017: "It's for Your Own Good", Spain. Directed by: Carlos Therón
* 2018: "Solsidan", Sweden. Directed by: Felix Herngren, Måns Herngren
* 2019: "Psychobitch", Norway. Directed by: Martin Lund
* 2021: "Little Palestine, Diary of a Siege", Lebanon, France, Qatar. Directed by: Abdallah Al-Khatib

### MICHEL Award presented by MICHEL Kinder und Jugend Filmfest (part of FILMFEST HAMBURG)

The Hamburgische Kulturstiftung and the Rolner Stiftung fund this award since 2013 with prize money of €5,000 . A jury made up of children selects the children's and youth films for this international competition.
* 2003: Das geheimnisvolle Fräulein C., Canada. Directed by: Richard Ciupka
* 2004: Station 4, Spain. Directed by: Antonio Mercero
* 2005: Der Schatz der weißen Falken [de], Germany. Written and directed by: Christian Zübert
* 2006: Don, Netherlands. Written and directed by: Arend Steenbergen
* 2007: Rot wie der Himmel, Italy. Directed by: Cristiano Bortone
* 2008: Hey Hey, hier Esther Blueburger, Australia. Written and directed by: Cathy Randall
* 2009: Glowing Stars, Sweden. Directed by: Lisa Siewe
* 2010: Spork, USA. Directed by: J.B. Ghuman Jr.
* 2011: Ways to Live Forever, Great Britain/Spain. Written and directed by: Gustavo Ron
* 2012: Stay!, Netherlands. Directed by: Lourens Blok
* 2013: Felix, South Africa. Directed by: Roberta Durrant
* 2014: The Contest, Denmark. Directed by: Martin Miehe-Renard
* 2015: Little Gangster, Netherlands. Directed by: Arne Toonen
* 2016: Fanny's Journey, France/Belgium. Directed by: Lola Doillon
* 2017: 1:54, Canada. Directed by: Yan England
* 2018: Supa Modo, Kenya. Directed by: Likarion Wainaina
* 2019: Psychobitch (Norway), Directed by: Martin Lund
* 2021: 'The Ape Star', Sweden, Norway, Denmark. Directed by: Linda Hambäck

### Sichtwechsel Film Award

Since 2017, the German Foreign Office honors directors who create films across national and cultural borders with a prize money of €10,000 .
* 2017: "The Future Perfect", Germany/Argentina. Directed by: Nele Wohlatz.
* 2017: "Amin", France. Directed by: Philippe Faucon
* 2019: Dark Suns, Directed by: Julien Élie
* 2021: 'Olga', Switzerland. Directed by: Elie Grappe

## Former Awards
### Montblanc Script Award

Endowed with €10.000 sponsored by Hamburg-based company Montblanc. The award is granted as part of the "Northern Lights" section to a fiction or documentary film either produced or set in Hamburg or Schleswig-Holstein.
* 2007: Jan Hinrik Drevs for "Underdogs", Germany
* 2008: Srdjan Vuletic for "It's Hard to be Nice", Bosnia-Herzegovina/Germany
* 2009: Xiaolu Guo for "She, a Chinese", Great Britain/China/France/Germany
* 2010: Henrik Peschel for "Pete the Heat", Germany
* 2011: Marnie Blok for "Simon and the Oaks", Germany
* 2012: Kim Fupz Aakeson for "Mercy", Germany/Netherlands
* 2013: Katrin Gebbe for "Nothing Bad Can Happen", Germany

### Foreign Press Award

* 2010: "Beyond", Sweden. Direction: Pernilla August
* 2011: "The Art of Love", France. Direction: Emmanuel Mouret
* 2012: "God's Neighbors", Israel. Direction and screenplay: Meni Yaesh