FILMFEST HAMBURG is a film festival for the public.
Every autumn, FILMFEST HAMBURG attracts over 50,000 cinema fans. Over ten days, around 120 national and international feature and documentary films are shown on 14 screens as world, European or German premieres. The programme in ten sections ranges from cinematically sophisticated arthouse films to innovative mainstream cinema. The MICHEL Children’s and Youth Film Festival has been offering a varied programme of films and events for young cinema-goers since 2003. FILMFEST HAMBURG presents the first productions of young German and international filmmakers as well as films by renowned directors. The feel for talent and its sustained support is unique in the German festival landscape: directors such as Céline Sciamma, Sean Baker, Xavier Dolan, Yorgos Lanthimos, Mohammad Rasoulof, Magnus von Horn and Justine Triet were guests at FILMFEST HAMBURG with their first or second feature films and are always happy to return to the Hanseatic city with their latest works.
The Douglas Sirk Award, which was introduced in 1995, has already been received on the big cinema stage by acting and directing greats such as Clint Eastwood, Jodie Foster, Steven Frears, Peter Weir, Jim Jarmusch, Wong Kar-Wai, François Ozon, Isabelle Huppert, David Cronenberg, Tilda Swinton, Wim Wenders and Sandra Hüller. The festival’s unendowed honour award was named after Hans Detlef Sierck from Hamburg, who emigrated to the USA in 1937 and made a career in Hollywood. Many other international actors and directors presented their films in person in Hamburg, including Emma Stone, Kenneth Branagh, Ewen McGregor, Sophia Loren, Mads Mikkelsen, Kelly Reichard, Lav Diaz, Celine Sciamma and Andrea Arnold.
In addition to the Douglas Sirk Award, the Hamburg Producer Award for International Cinema Co-Productions and German Cinema Productions, endowed with 50,000 euros and sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, will also be awarded.
Other prizes include the Hamburg Producer Award for German Television Productions and the Special Award for Serial Formats – both donated by the Collecting Society of Film and Television Producers (VFF), the FILMFEST HAMBURG Audience Award, donated by the Hapag-Lloyd Foundation, The Political Film of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, the MAJA, donated by Hamburg cinema operator Hans-Peter Jansen, the Arthouse Cinema Award, the NDR Newcomer Award and the Film Critics’ Award. The Albert Wiederspiel Prize for International Film Directing was awarded for the first time in 2023 as part of FILMFEST HAMBURG. The prize money of 10,000 euros is provided by the Hapag-Lloyd Foundation.
As a platform for cultural exchange, dialogue and networking, the majority of the films are presented by the filmmakers themselves in Hamburg. With an extensive programme of events including an Explorer conference as part of INDUSTRY DAYS, the festival in the north will become an important meeting place for the regional, national and international film industry. One focus of the industry programme is on networking up-and-coming national filmmakers with the international film scene. Since 2022, the FILMFEST HAMBURG ATELIER, in cooperation with the Semaine de la Critique in Cannes, has provided a creative work and dialogue space for film students from Germany and international debut filmmakers.
From 26 September to 5 October, 2024, FILMFEST HAMBURG hosted the 32nd edition of the festival for the first time under the direction of Malika Rabahallah at the Abaton, CinemaxX Dammtor, Metropolis, Passage and Studio-Kino cinemas. The latter has been the new venue for the MICHEL Children’s and Youth Film Festival since 2023. The latter has been the new venue for the MICHEL Kinder und Jugend Filmfest since 2023. With the new festival management, FILMFEST HAMBURG also offered a free admission day for the first time, giving a total of 10,804 tickets to cinema enthusiasts free of charge.
