Awards
Last year, FilmFest Hamburg presented twelve awards with prize money totalling 150,000 euros, including the Hamburg Producers Awards, the Douglas Sirk Award and the Albert Wiederspiel Award.
Hamburg Producers Award
International Cinema Co-Productions
The Hamburg Producers Award for International Cinema Co-Productions is endowed with 25,000 euros, provided by the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, and is awarded to the German co-producer(s).
Laureates
2025: Georg Neubert, Katharina Weser and Jasper Wiedhöft (Reynard Films, Leipzig) for A Sad and Beautiful World (Dir.: Cyril Aris; Scr.: Cyril Aris, Bane Fakih)
2024: Dorothe Beinemeier (Red Balloon, Hamburg ) for Happy Holidays (Dir. & Scr.: Scandar Copti)
2023: Fabian Driehorst (Fabian&Fred, Hamburg) for Sultana’s Dream (Dir.: Isabel Herguera; Scr.: Isabel Herguera, Gianmarco Serra)
2022: Michael Reuter, Saar Yogev and Naomi Levari (Electric Sheep, Berlin) for Victim (Dir.: Michal Blaško); Special Mention: Sol Bondy (One Two Films, Berlin) für Holy Spider (Dir.: Ali Abbasi)
2021: Melanie Andernach (Made in Germany Filmproduktion, Cologne) for Lingui (Dir. & Scr. Mahamat-Saleh Haroun)
2019: Michael Henrichs (Die Gesellschaft DGS, Cologne) for You Will Die at Twenty (Dir.: Amjad Abu Alala)
2018: Michael Eckelt (Riva Film, Hamburg) for Sibel (Dir.: Çagla Zencirci,Guillaume Giovanetti)
2017: Eva Blondiau (Color of May, Cologne) for Arrhythmia (Dir. Boris Khlebnikov)
2016: Jonas Dornbach, Janine Jackowski and Maren Ade (Komplizen Film Berlin) for Scarred Hearts (Dir. & Scr.: Radu Jude)
2015: Christine Haupt and Alexander Ris (Neue Mediopolis Filmproduktion, Leipzig) for One Floor Below (Dir. Radu Muntean, Scr.: Radu Muntean, Alexandru Baciu, Razvan Radulescu); Romanian co-producer: Dragos Vilcu (Multi Media Est).
2014: Daniel Zuta (Brandstorm Entertainment) for Welcome to Karastan (Dir.: Ben Hopkins; Scr.: Ben Hopkins, Pawel Pawlikoski); Georgian co-producer: Vladimer Katcharava (20 Steps Production)
Hamburg Producers Award
GERMAN CINEMA
The Hamburg Producers Award for German Cinema has been presented to films in the “Große Freiheit” section since 2018. The producer of the winning film receives 25,000 euros. The prize money is provided by the Ministry of Culture and Media.
Previous winners:
2025: Kirill Krasovski (Blue Monticola Film, Magdeburg) for Phantoms in July (Screenplay & Direction: Julian Radlmaier); Special Mention: Ingmar Trost (Sutor Kolonko, Cologne) for Gavagai (Dir. & Scr.: Ulrich Köhler).
2024: Dietmar Güntsche, Martin Rohé and Svenja Vanhoefer (Rebelle Film, Weimar) for Vena (Dir. & Scr: Chiara Fleischhacker)
2023: Katharina Huber for A Good Place (Dir., Scr., Prod.: Katharina Huber)
2022: Tobias Walker and Philipp Worm (Walker + Worm Film) for Skin Deep (Dir.: Alex Schaad; Scr.: Alex Schaad, Dimitrij Schaad)
2021: Jonas Weydemann (Weydeman & Bros.) for No One’s with the Calves (Dir.: Sabrina Sarabi)
2019: Verena Gräfe-Höft (Junafilm) for Pelican Blood (Dir. & Scr.: Katrin Gebbe)
2018: Jamila Wenske and Sol Bondy (One Two Films) for The Most Beautiful Couple (Dir. Sven Taddicken)
Hamburg Producers Award
German Television Films
The Hamburg Producers Award for German Television Films is presented in the “Televisionen” section. Producers of the winning film receive 25,000 euros. The prize money has been sponsored by VFF Verwertungsgesellschaft der Film- und Fernsehproduzenten since 2014.
Previous winners:
2025: Peter Hartwig (KINEO Film) for Polizei (Dir.: Buket Alakuş; Scr.: Laila Stieler).
2024: Bernd von Fehrn, René Jamm (Warner Bros.), Roxana Richters and Alexander Wadouh (Chromosom Film), for Von uns wird es keiner sein (Dir.: Simon Ostermann; Scr.: Lucas Flasch)
2023: Jakob Claussen and Ulrike Putz (Claussen + Putz) for Sörensen fängt Feuer (Dir.: Bjarne Mädel; Scr.: Sven Stricker)
2022: Christian Popp (Producers at Work) for Das Wunder von Kapstadt (Dir.: Franziska Buch; Scr: Christoph Silber)
2021: Jürgen Schuster (Fandango Film) for Sleepless in Portugal (Dir.: Florian Froschmayer; Scr.: Sathyan Ramesh)
2019: Ingmar Trost (Sutor Kolonko, Cologne) for A Voluntary Year (Dir: Ulrich Köhler, Henner Winckler)
2018: Heike Wiehle-Timm (Relevant Film, Hamburg) for Aufbruch in die Freiheit (Dir.: Isabel Kleefeld)
2017: Hubertus Meyer-Burckhardt and Christoph Bicker (Polyphon Film- und Fernsehgesellschaft Hamburg) for Meine fremde Freundin (Dir.: Stefan Krohmer)
2016: Heike Wiehle-Timm (Relevant Film Hamburg) for Apropos Glück (Dir.: Ulrike Grote)
2015: Brit Possardt (Calypso Entertainment) for Frauen (Dir.: Jan Ružička)
2014: Iris Kiefer (Filmpool Fiction) for Polizeiruf 110: Familiensache (Dir.: Eoin Moore)
2012: Claudia Schröder (Aspekt Telefilm-Produktion) for Mörderische Jagd (Dir.: Markus Imboden)
2011: Ulrich Aselmann (d.i.e. film) for Tödlicher Rausch (Dir.: Johannes Fabrick)
2010: Ralph Schwingel and Stefan Schubert (Wüste Film for Etwas Besseres als den Tod (Dir.: Nicole Weegmann)
2009: Claudia Schröder (Bremedia Filmproduktion) for Mörder auf Amrum (Dir.: Markus Imboden)
2008: Astrid Kahmke (Bavaria Fernsehproduktion) for Machen wir’s auf Finnisch (Dir.: Marco Petry)
2007: Babette Schröder (Magnolia Filmproduktion) for Kuckuckszeit (Dir.: Johannes Fabrick)
2006: Gloria Burkert and Andreas Bareiss (BurkertBareiss) for Ich wollte nicht töten (Dir.: Dagmar Hirtz)
Hamburg Producers Award
German Series
Since 2021, the Hamburg Producers Award for German Series has been presented. The prize money of 10,000 euros is also provided by VFF.
Previous winners:
2025: Kirstin Wille, Alexandra Bauermeister, Phil Laude and Ralph Schiller (DCM Pictures in cooperation with DiggiTales) for Almania (Showrunner: Phil Laude; Dir.: David Gruschka; Scr.: Thomas Mielmann, Phil Laude, Melina Natale, David Gruschka, Pejwak Ghasryani)
2024: Martin Danisch and David Hadda (Turbokultur) for Deadlines (Dir.: Sonja Heiss; Scr.: Johannes Boss, Nora Gantenbrink, Sonja Heiss)
2023: Katrin Haase and Oliver Arnold (U5 Filmproduktion) for Füxe (Dir.: David Clay Diaz, Susan Gordanshekan)
2022: Christian Beetz (Gebrüder Beetz Filmproduktion) for Reeperbahn – Special Police Unit 65 (Dir.: Georg Tschurtschenthaler, Carsten Gutschmidt, Ina Kessebohm)
2021: Ulf Israel and Reik Möller (Senator FIlmproduktion) for Warten auf’n Bus (Dir.: Fabian Möhrke; Scr.: Sophie Decker, Oliver Bukowski)
Arthouse Cinema Award
The Arthouse Cinema Award, presented by the International Confederation of Arthouse Cinemas (C.I.C.A.E.), is accompanied by a grant of 25,000 euros from MOIN Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein to support the German distributor’s PR activities. The nominees are films that are being released in German cinemas by a distributor.
Previous winners:
2025: Port au Prince Pictures; The Secret Agent (BR, FR, NL, DE) Dir. & Scr.: Kleber Mendonça Filho)
2024: Rapid Eye Movies;Universal Language (CA), Dir.: Matthew Rankin
2023: Capelight Pictures; How to Have Sex (UK, GR), Dir.: Molly Manning Walker
2022: Pandora Film Verleih; Close (BE, FR, NL), Dir.: Lucas Dhont
2021: Neue Visionen Filmverleih; Paris 13th District (FR), Dir.: Jacques Audiard
2019: Alamode Film; Portrait of a Lady on Fire (FR), Dir.: Céline Sciamma
2018: Pandora Film Verleih; Women at War (IS, FR, UA), Dir.: Benedikt Erlingsson; Scr.: Ólafur Egilsson, Benedikt Erlingsson
2017: Weltkino; The Rider (US), Dir.: Chloé Zhao
2016: Weltkino; Only the End of the World (CA, FR), Dir.: Xavier Dolan
2015: Weltkino; Mustang (FR, TR, DE), Dir.: Deniz Gamze Ergüven
2014: Salzgeber; Get – Der Prozess der Viviane Amsalem (IL, FR, DE), Dir.:, Scr.: Ronit Elkabetz und Shlomi Elkabetz
2013: Prokino; Venus in Fur (FR, PL), Dir.:, Scr.: Roman Polański
2012: nfp; Laurence Anyways (CA), Dir.:, Scr.: Xavier Dolan
2011: Arsenal Filmverleih; Monsieur Lazhar (CA), Dir.:, Scr.: Philippe Falardeau
2010: Senator Film; Nowhere Boy (UK, CA), Dir.: Sam Taylor-Wood
2009: Pandora Film Verleih; Soul Kitchen (DE), Dir.: Fatih Akin
2008: Pandora Film Verleih; 35 Rum (FR, DE), Dir.: Claire Denis
The Political Film of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung
Since 2013, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung has been honouring socially engaged cinema. Documentary and feature films in the “Veto!” section compete for prize money of 10,000 euros. The award goes to the best director.
Previous winners:
2025: Do You Love Me (FR, LB, DE, QA) Director: Lana Daher
2024: Sugarcane (US, CA) Directors: Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie
2023: In the Rearview (FR, PL, UA), Director: Maciek Hamela
2022: How to Blow Up a Pipeline (US), Director: Daniel Goldhaber
2021: La Civil (BE, RO, MX), Director: Teodora Ana Mihai
2019: Movements of a Nearby Mountain (AT, FR), Director: Sebastian Brameshuber
2018: On Her Shoulders (US), Director: Alexandria Bombach
2017: The Wait (DK), Directors: Emil Langballe and Andrea Storm Henriksen
2016: Tadmor (B, FR, CH, QA, AE), Directors: Monika Borgmann and Lokman Slim
2015: Every Face Has a Name (SE), Director: Magnus Gertten
2014: Children 404 (RU), Directors: Askold Kurov and Pavel Loparev
2013: Manuscripts Don’t Burn (IR), Director and Screenwriter: Mohammad Rasulof
2012: Fire in the Blood (IN), Director: Dylan Mohan Gray
NDR Young Talent Award
Students from Hamburg give the NDR Young Talent Award to directors presenting their feature-length debut or their second directorial work across all sections. The prize is worth 5,000 euros and is sponsored by Norddeutscher Rundfunk.
Previous winners:
2025: Lucky Lu (US, CA), Director: Lloyd Lee Choi
2024: Diciannove (IT, GB), Director: Giovanni Tortorici
2023: Shayda (AU), Director: Noora Niasari
2022: Dalva (Love According to Dalva) (BE, FR), Director: Emmanuelle Nicot
2021: Hive (XK, CH, AL, MK), Director: Blerta Basholli
2019: A Son (TN, FR), Director: Mehdi M. Barsaoui
2018: Little Tickles (FR), Director: Eric Métayer und Andréa Bescond
2017: Beach Rats (US), Director: Eliza Hittman. Lobende Erwähnung für Satan Said Dance (PL, NL), Regie: Kasia Rosłaniec
2016: Cold of Kalandar (HU, TR), Director: Mustafa Kara
2015: Keeper (BE, FR, CH), Director: Guillaume Senez
2014: Mary Is Happy, Mary Is Happy (TH), Director: Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit
2013: Short Term 12 (US), Director: Destin Cretton
2012: Germania (AR), Director: Maximiliano Schonfeld
2011: Avé (BG), Director: Konstantin Boschanow
2010: Shrouds (IL), Director: Shalom Hager
2009: Before my Eyes (TR), Director: Miraz Bezar
2008: Johnny Mad Dog (FR), Director: Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire
Critics’ Choice Award
The Critics’ Choice Award, which does not carry a cash prize, has been presented since 2018 in collaboration with the Association of German Film Critics. Across all sections, the award is given to a film from the programme that stands out for its original perspective.
Previous winners:
2025: Second Victims (DK), Director: Zinnini Elkington
2024: The Sparrow in the Chimney (CH), Director: Ramon Zürcher
2023: Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World (HR, FR, LU, RO), Director: Radu Jude
2022: R.M.N. (RO, FR), Director: Cristian Mungiu
2021: Vortex (FR, BE, MC), Director: Gaspar Noé
2019: Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (CN), Director: Gu Xiaogang
2018: Our Struggles (BE, FR), Director: Guillaume Senez
2017: The Florida Project (US), Director: Sean Baker. Lobende Erwähnung für Song of Granite (IE, CA), Director: Pat Collins
2016: Graduation (FR, RO, BE), Director and Screenwriter: Cristian Mungiu
2015: Neon Bull (BR, UY, NL), Director and Screenwriter: Gabriel Mascaro
2014: Hope (FR), Director and Screenwriter: Boris Lojkine
2013: Metro Manila (GB, PH), Director: Sean Ellis
2012: Lore (DE, AU, GB), Director: Cate Shortland
2011: Take Shelter (US), Director: Jeff Nichols
2010: Pulsar (BE), Director: Alex Stockman
2009: Cold Souls (US), Director: Sophie Barthes
2008: Frozen River (US), Director: Courtney Hunt
2007: Control (NL), Director: Anton Corbijn
2005: Iron Island (IR), Director: Mohammad Rasulof
2004: Brothers (DK), Director: Susanne Bier
MAJA Junior Film Award
The MAJA Junior Film Award, endowed with 10,000 euros, is sponsored by Hamburg cinema operator Hans-Peter Jansen. A jury of children and young people will choose their favourite from among all the films in this section.
Previous winners:
2025: Tales from the Magic Garden (CZ, SK, SI, FR), Directors: David Súkup, Patrik Pašš, Leon Vidmar und Jean-Claude Rozec. Honourable mention for Wild Foxes (FR, BE), Director: Valéry Carnoy
2024: Lars Is LOL (NO), Director: Eirik Sæter Stordahl
2023: Totem (NL, LU, DE), Director: Sander Burger
2022: Summer Scars (FR), Director: Christophe Barratier
2021: The Ape Star (SE), Director: Linda Hambäck
2019: Psychobitch (NO), Director: Martin Lund
2018: Supa Modo (DE, KE), Director: Likarion Wainaina
2017: 1:54 (CA), Director: Yan England
2016: Fanny’s Journey (FR), Director: Lola Doillon
2015: Little Gangster (NL), Director: Arne Toonen
2014: The Shamer’s Daughter (DK), Director: Martin Miehe-Renard
2013: Felix (ZA), Director: Roberta Durrant
2012: Stay Away from Me (NL), Director: Lourens Blok
2011: Ways to Live Forever (GB, ES), Director and Screenwriter: Gustavo Ron
2010: Spork (US), Director: J.B. Ghuman Jr.
2009: Glowing Stars (SE), Director: Lisa Siwe
2008: Hey Hey It’s Esther Blueburger (AU), Director: Cathy Randall
2007: Red Like the Sky (IT), Director: Cristiano Bortone
2006: Don (NL), Director: Arend Steenbergen
2005: The Treasure of the White Falcons (DE), Director: Christian Zübert
2004: 4th Floor (ES), Director: Antonio Mercero
2003: The Mysterious Miss C. (CA), Director: Richard Ciupka
FilmFest Hamburg Audience Award
The FilmFest Hamburg Audience Award, endowed with 5,000 euros and donated by the Hapag-Lloyd Stiftung, goes to the festival’s audience favourite.
Previous winners:
2025: Love Letters (FR), Director: Alice Douard
2024: Freedom in the Heart (DE), Director: Roxana Samadi
2023: Heaven Can Wait (DE), Director: Sven Halfar
2022: Amerikatsi (AM), Director: Michael Goorjian
2021: Little Palestine, Diary of a Siege (LB, QA, FR), Director: Abdallah Al-Khatib
2020: Gunda (NO, US), Director: Victor Kossakovsky
2019: Psychobitch (NO), Director: Martin Lund
2018: Solsidan (SE), Directors: Felix Herngren und Måns Herngren
2017: For Your Own Good (ES), Director: Carlos Therón
2016: The Day Will Come (DK), Director: Jesper W. Nielsen
2015: Nice People (SE), Directors: Karin af Klintberg und Anders Helgeson
2014: HalloHallo (SE), Director and Screenwriter: Maria Blom
2013: Les Gamins (Forever Young) (FR), Director and Screenwriter: Anthony Marciano
2012: This Life (DK), Director: Anne-Grethe Bjarup Riis
2011: King of Devil’s Island (NO), Director: Marius Holst
2010: Oldboys (DK), Director and Screenwriter: Nikolaj Steen
2009: The First Star (FR), Director: Lucien Jean-Baptiste
2008: Welcome to the Sticks (FR), Director: Dany Boon
2005: Adam’s Apples (DK), Director: Anders Thomas Jensen
2004: Dog Nail Clipper (FI), Director: Markku Pölönen
Albert Wiederspiel Award
Since 2023, Hapag-Lloyd Stiftung has been awarding the Albert Wiederspiel Award for international film directors, which carries a prize of 10,000 euros. By establishing the award and naming it after the former director of FilmFest Hamburg, the foundation wishes to “honour a dedicated festival organiser and film enthusiast”, as well as to highlight Albert Wiederspiel’s personal commitment and work as a “bridge-builder between cultures and worlds” (Michael Behrendt, Chairman of the Board of Hapag-Lloyd Stiftung).
Previous winners:
2025: Honeymoon (UA), Director: Zhanna Ozirna
2024: April (GE), Director: Dea Kulumbegashvili
2023: Achilles (IR), Director: Farhad Delaram
