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, 23.09.2008

It's time again: the Michel Kinder- und JugendFilmfest (Children's and Youth Film Festival) opens on 26th September 2008. The programme includes international children's and youth films alongside productions by Studio Hamburg Produktion.

Kerstin Ramcke, producer and deputy managing director of Studio Hamburg comments her company's commitment: "Filmfest Hamburg is one of the most important events of the year, which we are glad to take part in. As a successful producer of children's and youth films we eagerly support the "Michel", because particularly young talent deserves commitment and care."

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, 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.