Hamburg, 04.11.2008

Since this year, Filmfest Hamburg benefits from a supporting association. Freundeskreis Filmfest Hamburg e.V. (lit: Friends of Filmfest Hamburg) was founded in April 2008, with the aim of giving financial and ideological support to the Hanseatic City's film festival and thereby to film culture as a whole. The association will help to increase an all-year public awareness of Filmfest Hamburg. As of now, friends have the opportunity of supporting Filmfest Hamburg by means of membership fees.

Hamburg, 20.10.2008

In diesem Jahr zum ersten Mal zu Gast beim Filmfest: Der Ohrensessel. An zwei Abenden ging’s in der Lounge im CinemaxX ganz besonders kuschelig zu. Die gem�tliche Stimmung gibt’s jetzt f�r die kalten Herbstage als Podcast.

Hamburg, 03.10.2008

Last night the 16th Filmfest Hamburg came to ist close with the German premiere of the Belgian-French road movie "Eldorado" in the presence of director Bouli Lanners.

The 16th Filmfest Hamburg opened with the mountaineering drama "North Face". The German premiere was attended by director Philipp St�lzl, lead actress Johanna Wokalek and the two actors Simon Schwarz and Georg Friedrich. This year's Douglas-Sirk-Award was presented to the director Atom Egoyan. The renowned award is presented annually to an individual personality for outstanding contributions to film culture.

Even if last year's record audience figures were not beaten, the largest film festival in the North was attended by an audience of 35,000 and featured 134 films from 53 countries.

Hamburg, 02.10.2008

Filmfest Hamburg came to an end today with a festive award-giving ceremony.

The following awards were presented within the framework of a lunchtime reception given by the Senate at Literaturhaus Hamburg:

Prof. Dr. Karin von Welck, Senator for Culture, Sports and the Media, presented the TV Producers' Prize, endowed with 30,000 euros, to Bavaria Fernsehproduktion (producer: Astrid Kahmke) for the ProSieben comedy 'Machen wir's auf Finnisch' (director: Marco Petry). The prize-money is available exclusively for contracts with postproduction companies in Hamburg. The jury was made up of the producer and scriptwriter Nina Bohlmann, the actor Burghart Klau�ner and the scriptwriter Ruth Thoma.

This year...

Hamburg, 02.10.2008

One more day of Filmfest Hamburg in town. Awards are presented in the Cinemaxx cinema and a beautiful closing film will have you enchanted. Today is Bollywood day in the Metropolis cinema at the Savoy. Steindamm, a place that made (cinema) history this week. With one of the most spectacular premieres to have taken place at Filmfest Hamburg. Take a peek at the photos of “Madboy” in the photo gallery. Enjoy today’s Filmfest!

Hamburg, 01.10.2008

Two more days of Filmfest in town. Two last days of giving you the opportunity of discovering the beautiful truth behind the Sri Lankan handball team, which doesn’t actually exist. Or which existed on one occasion for a short visit to Germany. And Fatih Akin has a film for you today, too!

Hamburg, 30.09.2008

Heute zeigen wir auch beim Filmfest: Zwei Portr�ts �ber kraftvolle Bilder und B�cher von starken Frauen. In Jan Troells "Everlasting Moments" und Diane Kurys "Bonjour Sagan". Wie man den Themenschwerpunkt des Filmfest, "Vielfalt & Einheit", auch interpretieren kann zeigt sich im Cinemaxx, wo  in friedlicher Nachbarschaft T�r an T�r ein israelischer und ein iranischer Film laufen. Viele sch�ne Filme und ihre G�ste warten heute wieder auf Sie!

Hamburg, 29.09.2008

The Shtis are a solitary, peculiar people in the high north of France. Who could understand them better than the people of Hamburg? Possibly the inhabitants of Longyearbyen. If this is growing too cold for your liking, join us today on a trip to the Bosporus and immerse yourself in beautiful “world-class image projections” (says Atom Egoyan) onto the huge screen at CinemaxX. Or lose yourself in the fathomless depths of Canadian landscapes of the soul. Or go on an excursion to remote Danish villages? Or travel from Berlin to the brink of Africa? Give yourself a treat and start the new week with Filmfest Hamburg.

Hamburg, 28.09.2008

Today it's Northern Lights day. Films from Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein are very international this year. Israel, France, Dithmaschen and Wilhelmsburg. Come and see how diverse film here is.

Hamburg, 27.09.2008

Hamburg, 27.09.2008

Filmfest Hamburg’s traditional, renowned Douglas-Sirk-Award is presented to individual personalities who have rendered outstanding services to film culture. Last year it went to David Cronenberg. This year Filmfest Hamburg honours another Canadian: the brilliant author-director Atom Egoyan.

Hamburg, 27.09.2008

Canadian experimental filmmaker Peggy Anne Berton and multimedia artist Marc St Aubin will be performing tonight at 22:30 at Bar Hadley’s.

Hamburg, 26.09.2008

Today, 23 Films are celebrating their premiere at Filmfest Hamburg. The films tell the tales of Chinese mining families, enlightenment through Tantra sex, dark schemings in our Hanseatic City and much more. Read here which guests will be on location at Filmfest today and who will be presenting the films and the guests in the cinemas.

Hamburg, 25.09.2008

At last, the moment has arrived! The red carpet has been rolled out in front of the CinemaxX cinema and the 16th Filmfest Hamburg will be opened tonight. The start to a very varied week of 134 films from 53 countries will be marked by the film North Face by Philipp St�lzl.

Hamburg, 24.09.2008

Filmfest Hamburg: Du hast in den letzten Monaten intensiv an der neuen Website f�r Filmfest Hamburg gearbeitet. Was ist f�r dich das Besondere einer Website speziell f�r ein Filmfestival?

Dirk Platzek: Worauf ich mich besonders konzentriert habe, ist der Programmkalender, weil in meinen Recherchen mit Filmfestivals das immer als zentrales Element auffiel. Meine Vermutung war, dass die Besucher w�hrend des Filmfestes vor allem den Kalender brauchen, denn sie m�chten wissen, was und wann sie an einem bestimmten Tag sehen k�nnen. Daher war es mir besonders wichtig, die Kalenderfunktion zentral auf der Website zu platzieren auf eine Art und Weise, dass sie von einer Spannbreite von Nutzern leicht zu verstehen und zu durchsuchen ist.

Hamburg, 23.09.2008

Since autumn in Hamburg would not be complete without its Filmfest, the festival will also take place from 23rd September to 2nd October on the model surface of Miniatur Wunderland (lit: miniature wonderland) in the old warehouse district, complete with Skoda limousines arriving at the red carpet and with the Filmfest Hamburg trailer projected onto a screen. The loving care for detail can be observed in little gags, visible at a second glance, such as the Filmfest Hamburg posters all over town or the miniature version of Festival Director Albert Wiederspiel. 

Hamburg, 22.09.2008

The children's jury of the 6th Michel Kinder- und JugendFilmfest Hamburg (Children's and Youth Film Festival) is complete. The seven young cinephiles from all over Hamburg are spoilt for choice starting on 26th September. They will choose their very own favourite out of ten competing films. What better reward for a children's or youth film than to be appraised by its own target group? Besides prestige, the winner can look forward to receiving the "Michel", endowed with 5,000 euros prize money, donated by the DVD distributor Universal Pictures Germany.

The award that bears a typically Hamburgian name will be presented at the closing event of the Michel Kinder- und JugendFilmfest Hamburg (Children's and Youth Film Festival) on 2nd October 2008 at 4pm in the cinema CinemaxX Dammtor.

Hamburg, 20.09.2008

“Diversity and Unity” constitutes the main thematic focus of this year’s Filmfest Hamburg, and is linked both by date and by content to “German Unification Day”. One of the aims is to express both German and international cultural diversity while simultaneously preserving the unity of cultures. 13 films and one film performance are set to encourage losing oneself in the unknown and finding recovery in the familiar.

Hamburg, 19.09.2008

Mauricio Ra�l Kagel (1931 - 2008) was amongst the most important and creative composers of contemporary classical music. He lived in Cologne since the late 1950s.
In July 2006, Mauricio Kagel worked on a project with young musicians in Argentina. The Argentine filmmaker Gast�n Solnicki accompanied the composer on his first visit to his homeland in over 40 years. The film's title "S�den" is also the name of a piece of work that Kagel composed in 1989, as well as the name of a chamber orchestra dedicated to performing Kagel's oeuvre. 

The film "S�den" will be shown in the presence of director Gast�n Solnicki on 1st October 2008 at 8pm in the cinema CinemaxX Dammtor, in the "Vitrina" section of the 16th Filmfest Hamburg.

Hamburg, 17.09.2008

Once again the films at Filmfest Hamburg will be presented by members of Hamburg's media industry. These 'patrons' will give sensitive introductions to each film presentation and will later initiate discussions between audience and filmmakers. This year the presenters include Eva Hubert, Executive Director of Filmf�rderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, the actresses Victoria Trauttmansdorff, Loretta Stern and Mignon Rem�, actor and musician Gustav Peter W�hler and director Fatih Akin, as well as Silke and Jochen Sch�tze, film journalists from Hamburg.

Daily announcements will be made in the news section of Filmfest Hamburg's homepage throughout the festival as to which presenter will be introducing which film.

Hamburg, 15.09.2008

Filmfest Hamburg has its own YouTube channel. Every year, a new trailer is developed for Filmfest Hamburg. We have collected the past years’ trailers and have uploaded them onto YouTube. We also included a number of current TV shows on the 16^th Filmfest Hamburg. Enjoy browsing at www.youtube.de/FilmfestHamburg

Hamburg, 12.09.2008

Since this year, Filmfest Hamburg benefits from a supporting association. Freundeskreis Filmfest Hamburg e.V. (lit: Friends of Filmfest Hamburg) was founded in April 2008, with the aim of giving financial and ideological support to the Hanseatic City's film festival and thereby to film culture as a whole. The association will help to increase an all-year public awareness of Filmfest Hamburg. As of now, friends have the opportunity of supporting Filmfest Hamburg by means of membership fees.

Hamburg, 11.09.2008

As of today tickets for our broad programme are available at all ticket agencies and via the Internet. And attention all fans of Filmfest Hamburg: for only 26 euros you can buy a 'package ticket' for 5 films at the Filmfest counter in the Levantehaus shopping arcade and in the cinemas CinemaxX Dammtor, Abaton and 3001! Please find further information here

Hamburg, 08.09.2008

Filmfest Hamburg presents the Douglas-Sirk-Award 2008 to the Canadian director Atom Egoyan. The renowned prize is awarded annually to one person for rendering outstanding services to film culture through their work. Festival Director Albert Wiederspiel explains the motivation behind choosing the author-director from Canada: “In honouring Atom Egoyan, we are honouring an unconventional director whose artistic approach influences filmmaking. Egoyan remains unperturbed in going his own way and never allows himself to be led astray from his cinematic vision.

Hamburg, 02.09.2008

Filmfest Hamburg opens its “Gateway to a thousand worlds” for the 16th time on 25th September 2008 with the German premiere of the film “North Face” by director and scriptwriter Philipp St�lzl, which was much celebrated at the Locarno Film Festival.
Albert Wiederspiel: “I couldn’t allow myself and the Hamburg audience to pass this by: a mountain drama as the opening film in the lowlands of Hamburg. But I am absolutely positive that the people from Hamburg are cosmopolitan enough to be just as enthralled by “North Face” as the Ticino audience was in Locarno. After all, cinema is about emotional heights, not just geographical ones…”

Hamburg, 26.08.2008

Festival Director Albert Wiederspiel is proud to have the young talents award “Die Elfe” (literally: “The Pixie”) being presented at Filmfest Hamburg, donated by one of Europe’s leading advertising film production companies, Neue Sentimental Film Hamburg (NSF). Helga Waterkotte, Managing Director of NSF Hamburg: “The young talents award in the form of an elf symbolizes the dreams of young directors and is simultaneously part of our company logo.”

Hamburg, 20.08.2008

Functioning as the festival's patron, J�rgen Vogel will open the Michel Kinder- und JugendFilmfest (Children's and Youth Film Festival) in the CinemaxX Dammtor cinema on 26th September 2008. Supporting the "Michel" festival is a matter of personal importance to the much-awarded actor. For this year's patron, the children's emotional world and imagination during cinema visits lie at the centre of concern. And another aspect is particularly important: "Cinema is at its best when the big screen lets you experience new stories and adventures and brings you to places you've never been to before."

Hamburg, 06.08.2008

Selecting the programme for the 16th Filmfest Hamburg has been largely completed. Once again, exceptional films from all over Europe will celebrate their German, European or world premieres in the Hanseatic City of Hamburg from 25th September to 2nd October 2008. Filmfest Hamburg is characterized by its broad spectrum of films, ranging from the demanding to the internationally glamorous, and presenting both well-known names as well as out-of-the-ordinary discoveries. This year sees the comeback of some icons of film history, such as British director Terence Davies and Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski.

Hamburg, 13.05.2008

From September 25 to October 2, 2008 the 16th Filmfest Hamburg invites film lovers and filmmakers into the cinemas CinemaxX Dammtor, Abaton and 3001. Among them the CinemaxX Dammtor will take the role of the central festival cinema. This year it will not only be the location of the opening and closing ceremonies with the accompanying presentations of the awards, but a great amount of the approximately 140 international films will be screened there as well - as German or international premieres or even as world premieres.

Hamburg, 13.05.2008

From June 1, 2008 onwards Kati Baumgarten and Claus Friede will take over communications and press relations at the Filmfest Hamburg.