With packed cinemas, strong ticket sales, national and international guests on the red carpet, a first award winner and the start of the FILMFEST HAMBURG INDUSTRY DAYS, FILMFEST HAMBURG looks back on the first five days of the festival and reports positive results at the halfway point. 

 

“The city of Hamburg is not only showing itself from its very best side in terms of weather. Our film festival has also got off to a successful start. Our wonderful guests are creating a buzz on the red carpet, and the film programme is attracting audiences to the cinemas even when it’s sunny outside. This is also shown by the amount of tickets sold. At this point, over 25 per cent more tickets have been sold than last year at the same time. Let’s keep it up,” says festival director Malika Rabahallah.

 

Following the opening with Philippe Falardeau’s heartwarming tragicomedy Lovely Day, Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident, Lars Jessen’s television film Prange – Man ist ja Nachbar, Romería directed by Carla Simón, Gar O’Rourke’s documentary Sanatorium, the MICHEL opening film The Songbirds’ Secret, I Am the Greatest, Billie, No Mercy, and Smalltown Girl celebrated their premieres and world premieres in Hamburg.

 

Audiences and press were equally enthusiastic about screenings such as Amrum by Fatih Akin, attended by stars Diane Kruger, Jasper Billerbeck, Kian Köppke, Lisa Hagmeister, Laura Tonke, Detlev Buck, Lars Jessen and Jan-Georg Schütte. Erik Schmitt’s The Life of Wishes, featuring Matthias Schweighöfer, Luise Heyer, Verena Altenberger and Ruby O. Fee, was also met with great acclaim. Second Victims, the debut film by Zinnini Elkington starring Trine Dyrholm, likewise received a warm reception.

 

A colorful and lively evening unfolded with the premiere of Olivia, directed by Till Endemann and written by David Ungureit. The film about drag artist Olivia Jones was presented with lead actors Johannes Hegemann, Annette Frier and Angelina Häntsch, along with the Olivia Jones community. The series premiere of Almania brought further energy to the red carpet, with cast and crew including Phil Laude, David Gruschka, Derya Dilber, Jansel Dogan and Pegah Ferydoni in attendance. A special highlight was the screening of Twiggy at the Hapag-Lloyd headquarters. The presence of the iconic 1960s style icon herself delighted fans, press and invited guests alike.

 

At the start of the festival, the first award was presented. The Albert Wiederspiel Award, endowed with €10,000 and sponsored by the Hapag-Lloyd Foundation, went to Ukrainian director Zhanna Orzina for her film Honeymoon. The award was presented in person at the Metropolis cinema by Albert Wiederspiel, the festival’s former director and the award’s namesake.

 

A new format was launched at this year’s festival. In Deep Dive Sound, Oscar-winning sound designer Sylvain Bellemare gave a behind-the-scenes look at his work on Arrival by Denis Villeneuve during a special session at the Kinopolis cinema. As one of this year’s Filmmakers in Focus, French director Julia Ducournau not only presented her latest film Alpha, but also engaged in an in-depth discussion about her artistic approach and cinematic vision.

 

The second half of the festival promises further highlights and international guests. Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne will present their new film Young Mothers and will receive the prestigious Douglas Sirk Award during a ceremony on Tuesday evening. Director Joscha Bongard and actress Maya Bons will attend the German premiere of Babystar. Amma Asante, Filippa Coster-Waldau and Henry Lloyd-Hughes will present the series Smilla’s Sense of Snow. Director and actor James Sweeney will introduce his film Twinless, while award-winning actress Nadia Melliti is expected for the premiere of Hafsia Herzi’s The little Sister.

 

Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho, the second Filmmaker in Focus, will arrive in Hamburg on 4 October for a comprehensive director’s talk and will also present his latest film The Secret Agent.

 

For the second year in a row, the festival will host Free Admission Day on 3 October. Thanks to support from the Hamburg Ministry of Culture and Media, audiences can enjoy 36 films across 15 participating cinemas free of charge. Among the films screening that day are Diamanti by Ferzan Özpetek, Divine Comedy by Ali Asgari, Erik Schmitt’s The Life of Wishes, Donkey Days by Rosanne Pel, Summer Beats by Lise Akoka and Time We Lost by Neele Leana Vollmar, with cast members Anke Engelke and Ulrich Tukur expected on the red carpet.

 

A number of international directors will be in Hamburg to personally present their films. These include Anne Émond with Amour Apocalypse, Kelly Reichardt with The Mastermind, Kate Beecroft with East of Wall – The New West, Netalie Braun with Oxygen and Alice Douard with Love Letters.

 

In the coming days, selected films will also be shown in the ten neighbourhood cinemas participating in FILMFEST UMS ECK. Screenings include Agatha’s Almanac at Astor Film Lounge, Don’t Call Me Mama at Koralle Kino and Dog 51 at Kinopolis.

 

FILMFEST HAMBURG 2025 will conclude on 4 October with the screening of Rental Family by Hikari. The MICHEL Children and Youth Film Festival wraps up on 2 October with the presentation of the MICHEL MAJA Film Award and the Dutch film Honey.

 

The FILMFEST HAMBURG INDUSTRY DAYS started yesterday and will be running until 2 October. On Wednesday, 1 October, the Hamburg Producers Awards, the Arthouse Cinema Award and the IFDS Award will be presented at the FILMFEST BAR @Coda Club.

FILMFEST HAMBURG will take place until 4 October 2025. Tickets are available online and at the ticket counters of the festival cinemas Abaton, CinemaxX Dammtor, Metropolis, Passage and Studio-Kino.