During the closing ceremony, hosted by NDR Kultur presenter Julia Westlake, the awards of the 33rd FILMFEST HAMBURG were presented on the evening before the screening of Rental Family by Hikari at the CinemaxX Dammtor. With around 62,000 visitors – including the Binnenalster Filmfest and the extended FILMFEST HAMBURG INDUSTRY DAYS – the festival reports a positive outcome and was able to increase last year’s result by a further five percent.

 

“Full cinemas, international industry guests at our FILMFEST HAMBURG INDUSTRY DAYS, and a hugely successful ‘Day of Free Admission’: I’m truly overwhelmed by our audience, our guests, the positive feedback – and the weather! What a heart-warming ten days. My heartfelt thanks to everyone who made this edition of the festival so special.” says festival director Malika Rabahallah.

 

Overview of the Awards:

 

The Awards of the Political Film of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, endowed with €10,000, goes to director Lana Daher for Do You Love Me (France, Lebanon, Germany, Qatar 2025).

 

Jury statement:

“Between wars, the past echoes, the future a mirage – reality schizophrenic, full of tears and laughter. A reflection in shattered, colourful glass, distorting one’s own image and reality – sometimes beautiful, sometimes ugly – filled with grief and the hope of arriving: in peace, in dignity, in life. Director Lana Daher achieves something extraordinary. Driven by longing, she ascends into the highs and lows of the images of the past, piecing together a mosaic of memories – her own and those of others – that reveals a future which could be beautiful. Through her meticulous, years-long, almost obsessive process, she has created a poetic film in a form we have never seen before. Lana Daher shows us Beirut, the Bride of the East, through the eyes of its inhabitants who love their city so deeply. Beirut’s beauty can only be understood from this perspective. Yet it is also the portrait of a divided city, of many faces and layered cultural identities. Fragments from different times and realities – documentary or staged, black-and-white or colour, day and night – are assembled to form a collage that, against all odds, advances the narrative and emotional core. This collage creates a multifaceted image of a diverse, scarred society. Lana Daher carries a broken longing for a place that is both near and far: her Lebanon, her Beirut. She shows us a city seemingly trapped in an endless loop of violence and uncertainty, lacking a shared story. The film is an emotional homage to buried homelands – Afghanistan, Sudan, Congo, Iran, Ukraine, Palestine.”
(Jury: Irene Appiah, Member of the Hamburg Parliament; Ali Samadi Ahadi, Director)

 

The NDR Young Talent Award for Feature Film Debuts, worth €5,000, goes this year to Lloyd Lee Choi for his film Lucky Lu (USA, Canada 2025).

 

Jury statement:

“Through the eyes of his protagonist Lu, Lloyd Lee Choi paints a striking portrait of the daily struggle for survival faced by migrant communities in contemporary America. Caught between the empty promises of the American Dream and the cold reality of New York’s streets, Lu comes to realise that he must abandon his dreams in order to survive. In Lu’s journey through the concrete jungle of New York – captured in Choi’s strict yet beautiful compositions – he finds something far more important: solidarity. It is Choi’s sensitive approach to the complex, ambivalent relationships between Lu, his daughter, old acquaintances and his social environment that makes him a most promising new voice in cinema.”
(Jury: Valentina Cuadros Biggemann, Julia Giang, Tara Madelaine Grubac, Leo Kröhnke and Julian Wichert)

 

The Critics’ Choice Award, presented in cooperation with the German Film Critics Association since 2018, goes to Second Victims by Zinnini Elkington (Denmark, 2025).

 

Jury statement:

“‘All doctors have cemeteries,’ says a line in Zinnini Elkington’s feature debut. This moving drama about a doctor grappling with a possible misdiagnosis explores how one learns to live with these cemeteries – the knowledge that, despite the miracles of science and medical technology, no one can control death, and that human power over life and death has its limits. Elkington embeds this insight in a film that vividly conveys the pressure and overwhelm faced by those working within the healthcare system. Thanks to its powerful visual language – expressive use of locations, dynamic depiction of stress, and long takes that give the strong ensemble space to unfold the emotional journey – the film deeply immerses us. Elkington’s sense for imagery, rhythm and performance direction leaves us eager to see her future work.”
(Jury: Sofia Glasl, Süddeutsche Zeitung; Felicitas Kleiner, Filmdienst; Danny Marques Marçalo, NDR 90.3)

 

The FILMFEST HAMBURG Audience Award, endowed with €5,000 by the Hapag-Lloyd Foundation for the festival’s audience favourite, goes to Love Letters by Alice Douard.

 

On 1 October, the first awards had already been announced: The Hamburg Producers Award for International CoPros went to producers Georg Neubert, Katharina Weser and Jasper Wiedhöft (Reynard Films) for A Sad and Beautiful World (dir. Cyril Aris; screenplay Cyril Aris, Bane Fakih; Lebanon, Germany, USA). The Hamburg Producers Award for German Cinema was awarded to Kirill Krasovski (Blue Monticola Film) for Phantoms of July (dir./screenplay Julian Radlmaier). Both awards are endowed with €25,000 each, provided by the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.

 

The Hamburg Producers Award for German Television Films went to Peter Hartwig (KINEO Film) for Polizei (dir. Buket Alakuş; screenplay Laila Stieler). The Hamburg Producers Award for German Series was presented to producers Kirstin Wille, Alexandra Bauermeister, Phil Laude and Ralph Schiller (DCM Pictures in cooperation with DiggiTales) for Almania (dir. David Gruschka; screenplay Thomas Mielmann, Phil Laude, Melina Natale, David Gruschka, Pejwak Ghasryani).
The total prize money of €35,000 was donated by the Verwertungsgesellschaft der Film- und Fernsehproduzenten  (VFF).

 

The Arthouse Cinema Award of the C.I.C.A.E. (International Confederation of Arthouse Cinemas), worth €25,000, goes to the German distributor Port au Prince Pictures for The Secret Agent by Kleber Mendonça Filho. The MOIN Film Fund Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, as the prize sponsor, supports the release with accompanying PR measures.
(Jury: Verena von Stackelberg, Wolf Kino, Berlin; Aurel Graf, Arthouse Kinos, Zurich; Mustafa El Mesaoudi, Lichtblick Cinema / Immergutefilme Distribution, Wuppertal)

 

The MICHEL Award MAJA, endowed with €10,000 and donated by Hamburg cinema operator Hans-Peter Jansen, was presented on 2 October by the MICHEL children’s and youth jury to the animated film Tales from the Magic Garden (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, France 2025; dir. David Súkup, Patrik Pašš, Leon Vidmar, Jean-Claude Rozec).

 

The Douglas Sirk Award, FILMFEST HAMBURG’s honorary prize since 1995, went this year to Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. The Albert Wiederspiel Award for International Film Direction, worth €10,000 and sponsored by the Hapag-Lloyd Foundation, was awarded to Ukrainian director Zhanna Ozirna for Honeymoon.

 

Stars, Industry Guests and a Strong Market Presence

 

On the red carpet, Festival Director Malika Rabahallah and her team welcomed 814 guests from 36 countries, including directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Akinola Davis Jr., Fatih Akin, Anne Émond, Ali Asgari, Cherien Dabis, Zinnini Elkington, Tarik Saleh, Rosanne Pel, Zhanna Ozirna, Kate Beecroft, Till Endemann, Ferzan Özpetek, James Sweeney, Julia Ducournau and Kleber Mendonça Filho; as well as actors Trine Dyrholm, Nadia Melliti, Matthias Schweighöfer, Phil Laude, Anke Engelke, Ulrich Tukur, Johannes Hegemann, Luise Heyer, Katharina Wackernagel, Susanne Wolff, Maren Eggert, Verena Altenberger, Diane Kruger, Denis Moschitto, Laura Tonke, Dana Herfurth and Bjarne Mädel.

 

For the first time, the international formats European Work in Progress (EWIP) and the International Distribution Summit (IFDS) were part of the FILMFEST HAMBURG INDUSTRY DAYS. Together with the Explorer Conference (established in 2019) and the national MADE IN GERMANY programme, the festival further expanded its industry platform.

“A festival always stands on two legs,” says Malika Rabahallah. “It’s about the audience, but also about the international film industry. This year, with around 2,000 national and international industry guests – including producers, distributors and sales agents – we succeeded in making FILMFEST HAMBURG a hub for networking and exchange. It’s an important step towards establishing the festival more firmly on the international festival map.”

 

FILMFEST HAMBURG is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, alongside its loyal main partners: Deutsche Fernsehlotterie, Hapag-Lloyd Foundation, Studio Hamburg Group, Grand Elysée Hotel and mobility partner MOIA. Further supporters include the Karin and Walter Blüchert Memorial Foundation, ARTE, main media partner NDR, and more than 60 additional partners, sponsors and supporters. Since last year, HaspaJoker and MUBI have also joined as partners and have since expanded their commitment.

 

The 34th edition of FILMFEST HAMBURG will take place from 24 September to 3 October 2026.