HAMBURg Producers Award
INTERNATIONAL CINEMA-COPRO

The Hamburg Producers Award for International Cinema CoPro is endowed with €25,000, provided by the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and awarded to the German co-producer(s). The 2025 award winners are the producers Jasper Wiedhöft, Katharina Weser and Georg Neubert (Reynard Films) for A Sad and Beautiful World (Director: Cyril Aris; Screenplay: Cyril Aris, Bane Fakih).

STATEMENT FROM THE JURY (Bettina Brokemper, Producer; Mechthild Holter, Talent Agent; İlker Çatak, Director)

“We are grateful for the abundance of wonderful and powerful films we were able to watch this week. Films that opened up new worlds to us, that dealt with pressing issues of our time, with a distinctive and outstanding artistic voice. Our winning film is one that managed to make us both laugh and cry, that is political in the private sphere, that allows us to dream of a better world while never forgetting that the personal is always political. It tells the story of Lebanon’s past and future through a love affair, in which the dreamer and the realist must each leave their comfort zone.”

Hamburg Producers Award
GERMAN CINEMA

The Hamburg Producers Award for German Cinema has been presented since 2018 to films from the GROSSE FREIHEIT section. The producer of the winning film receives €25,000. The prize money is provided by the Ministry of Culture and Media. The 2025 award winner is Kirill Krasovski (Blue Monticola Film) for Sehnsucht in Sangerhausen (Screenplay & Direction: Julian Radlmaier).

STATEMENT FROM THE JURY (Lena Urzendowsky, Actress; Zamarin Wahdat, Cinematographer and Director; Silvan Zürcher, Producer)

“The winning film portrays a place and its past with an open, curious and highly humorous gaze. Beautifully shot, it drifts from character to character and lovingly weaves its discoveries, layers and motifs together in an originally playful way to create a poetic film mosaic. In doing so, it touches on themes such as exclusion and the longing for belonging, raising questions about the kind of society we want to live in. It conjures up ghosts from the past who hold up a mirror to us: ‘You living ones forget so quickly.’ A call for empathy that is of great urgency in our present time. The film unfolds a utopia of humanity and peaceful coexistence. It leaves us with hope for a world without xenophobia – but full of humour.”

The jury also gave a special mention to the film Gavagai (Production: Sutor Kolonko, Ingmar Trost; Screenplay & Direction: Ulrich Köhler).

Hamburg Producers Award
GERMAN TELEVISION FILMS

The Hamburg Producers Award for German Television Films is presented in the TV section TELEVISIONEN. The producer of the winning film receives €25,000. Since 2014, the prize money has been endowed by the VFF, the Collecting Society of Film and Television Producers. The 2025 award winner is Peter Hartwig (KINEO Film) for Polizei (Director: Buket Alakuş; Screenplay: Laila Stieler).

STATEMENT FROM THE JURY (Malick Bauer, Actor; Sabine Steyer-Violet, Screenwriter & Dramaturg; Sarika Lakhani, Producer)

“What can be regarded as courageous must always be seen in the context of its time. In a present where the very foundations of democracy are being shaken – not only in distant countries but also here in Germany – it is not only important, but unfortunately also courageous, to make a film about police violence.

What we are shown is not a simple opposition of ‘the good’ and ‘the bad’. Instead, the film tells of all the shades of grey in between – through which the emotional core of the story shines: Anton, a young person lost between the pandemic and social hopelessness, now searching for himself. A character who represents many of his generation.

Laila Stieler’s screenplay is a consistent and incredibly multi-layered narrative with a warm gaze at complex characters who are not ‘explained’ to us, and with a love of detail. Director Buket Alakuş has turned it into a film one cannot escape. Step by step, we follow Anton in his search for the truth about what happened to him during a May Day demonstration – and we are so closely connected to him that we share in every dead end and every misstep.

Not least thanks to the outstanding ensemble cast, an intense emotional closeness emerges. That all cinematic departments work at the highest level and interlock so excellently in Polizei is above all the achievement of an exceptional production.”

Hamburg Producers Award
GERMAN SERIES

Since 2021, the Hamburg Producers Award for German Series has been presented. The prize money of €10,000 is also provided by the VFF. The 2025 award winners are Kirstin Wille, Alexandra Bauermeister, Phil Laude and Ralph Schiller (DCM Pictures in cooperation with DiggiTales) for the series Almania (Director: David Gruschka; Screenplay: Thomas Mielmann, Phil Laude, Melina Natale, David Gruschka, Pejwak Ghasryani).

STATEMENT FROM THE JURY (Malick Bauer, Actor; Sabine Steyer-Violet, Screenwriter & Dramaturg; Sarika Lakhani, Producer)

“At a time when many hard-won achievements are once again being devoured and rejected by old systems, this work served as a reminder of the Germany we wish for. Because if we take a look outside our doors: our reality today is indeed diverse – whether we like it or not.

With humour and warmth, Almania succeeds in lovingly letting its characters collide through witty dialogue, without portraying any of them as deficient. We watch them in three-dimensional, complex form as they fail, succeed or hatch absurd plans, and we are treated to an ensemble performance that not only made us laugh but also moved us.

Supported by a dynamic camera that captures reactions with pans and zooms, and a direction that consistently tells conflicts with clarity and precise timing, the series brims with charm in its visuals and costumes. All departments show a continuity of passion and craftsmanship that impresses – and demonstrate how so-called ‘light entertainment’ is in fact hard work.

Brought together by a producing team eager to entertain audiences, creating a space for multiple perspectives and realities, unafraid of conflict and willing to endure tensions, Almania offers exactly the kind of storytelling this country needs – one that makes room for everyone. We congratulate the Almania team and thank them for reminding us of that vision.”

ARTHOUSE CINEMA AWARD

The Arthouse Cinema Award of the International Confederation of Art Cinemas (C.I.C.A.E.) is, from this year, accompanied by €25,000 from MOIN Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein for PR measures of the German distributor. Nominated are films that have been released in German cinemas by a distributor. The 2025 award was presented to the distributor Port au Prince Pictures for the film The Secret Agent (Screenplay & Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho).

STATEMENT FROM THE JURY (Verena von Stackelberg, Wolf Kino, Berlin; Aurel Graf, Arthouse Kinos, Zürich; Mustafa El Mesaoudi, Lichtblick Cinema, Immegutefilme Film Distribution, Wuppertal)

“With The Secret Agent by Kleber Mendonça Filho, we are awarding a film that masterfully combines political impact, visual brilliance and narrative depth, celebrating the art of cinema. Wagner Moura captivates in a nuanced, intense lead role that carries the film and gives it immense emotional power. Kleber Mendonça Filho and cinematographer Evgenia Alexandrova create visually captivating images, and the 160 minutes fly by.

This is what outstanding cinema is: it captivates, moves and resonates long after the credits roll. The Secret Agent is not only a portrait of a dark era in Brazil but also an example of how arthouse cinema combines social relevance with cinematic intensity and artistic precision. The Secret Agent is simultaneously a thriller, a political portrait, and a sensitive story of remembrance. The film stays with the audience not only in the mind but also in the heart: it prompts reflection on politics and memory, fear and courage, art, cinema, and resistance. This is exactly what defines arthouse cinema.”

MAJA

The MICHEL Film Award MAJA, endowed with €10,000, is sponsored by Hamburg cinema operator Hans-Peter Jansen. This year, the Children’s and Youth Jury selected the film Tales from the Magic Garden (Directors: David Súkup, Patrik Pašš, Leon Vidmar and Jean-Claude Rozec) from all the competition films in the MICHEL programme.

STATEMENT FROM THE JURY

“We chose this film as our favourite because it provides comfort and presents death from a new perspective. We were also very impressed by the extensive work on the set design and the stop-motion technique. The film consists of many small, imaginative, detailed and carefree stories that are woven together into one large, varied story. Furthermore, we feel that the film is a suitable feel-good film for all ages. The music and colours create a very cheerful and warm atmosphere. We are delighted to present the MAJA Film Award to this wonderful film and look forward to more films of this kind. We also want to thank and give a special mention to another film!”

The Belgian-French film Wild Foxes (Director: Valéry Carnoy) also received a special mention.

“What particularly stood out and moved us was the film Wild Foxes. It showed us things we had never seen so intensely in any other film. It takes us up close on the journey of the young boxer Camille, who is faced with major internal and external conflicts due to performance pressure and friendships. The choice of setting – a boarding school at the edge of a forest – gives the film a melancholic atmosphere, which was very unusual.”

ALBERT WIEDERSPIEL AWARD

Douglas Sirk AWARD

Since 1995, the Douglas Sirk Prize has been awarded as part of FILMFEST HAMBURG to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to film culture and the film industry. The 2025 award winners are Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne.