FILMFEST HAMBURG is a film festival for the public.
According to the motto »Filmfest for everyone – everywhere in Hamburg«, the first film festival opened in Hamburg in 1992. To date, around 3000 national and international film productions have celebrated their world, European or German premieres at FILMFEST HAMBURG. The festival has grown continuously over the years, with the number of visitors increasing tenfold since 1992. When Albert Wiederspiel took office in 2003, the first MICHEL Children’s and Youth Festival took place.
Every autumn, FILMFEST HAMBURG attracts more than 45,000 cinema fans.Over ten days, around 130 national and international feature films and documentaries are shown on 14 screens. The programme spectrum in ten sections ranges from cineastically sophisticated art house films to innovative mainstream cinema and a colourful film and event programme for the youngest cinema-goers. FILMFEST HAMBURG presents the first productions of young German and international filmmakers as well as the films of established directors. In addition, it brings television productions to the big screen before they are broadcast on TV.
Directors and actors such as Clint Eastwood, Jodie Foster, Steven Frears, Peter Weir, Jim Jarmusch, Wong Kar-Wai, François Ozon, Isabelle Huppert, David Cronenberg, Tilda Swinton and Wim Wenders received the Douglas Sirk Award, introduced in 1995, as personalities who have rendered outstanding services to film culture and the film industry.
In 2022 FILMFEST HAMBURG awarded prize money totalling 110,000 euros, including the Hamburg Producers Award for German Film Productions, endowed with 25,000 euros, donated by the Hamburg Ministry of Culture and Media. The special prize for serial formats was increased to 10,000 euros in its second year and donated by the Verwertungsgesellschaft der Film- und Fernsehproduzenten (VFF).
Other awards include the Douglas Sirk Award, the Hamburg Producers Award for International Cinema Co-Productions, donated by the Hamburg Ministry of Culture and Media, the Hamburg Producers Award for German TV Productions, donated by the Verwertungsgesellschaft der Film- und Fernsehproduzenten (VFF), the FILMFEST HAMBURG Audience Award, donated for the first time by the Hapag-Lloyd Foundation, The Political Film of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, the MAJA, donated by Hamburg cinema operator Hans-Peter Jansen, the Art Cinema Award, the NDR Young Talent Award and the Critics’ Choice Award.
As a platform for cultural exchange and dialogue, the majority of the films are presented by the filmmakers themselves in Hamburg. Numerous events make FILMFEST HAMBURG an important meeting place for cinema enthusiasts and the film industry alike.
From 28 September to 8 October 2023, FILMFEST HAMBURG invites you to its 31st edition in the Abaton, CinemaxX Dammtor, Metropolis, Passage and Studio-Kino cinemas. The 21st MICHEL Film Festival will take place from 29 September to 5 October 2023.
