The DEEPWAVE Filmfestival is back! Join students, scientists, marine conservationists and ocean enthusiasts for an immersive evening exploring the depths of the ocean and its challenges.

We focus on creating a highly curated and connected experience, showcasing quality short films, inviting experts, and providing engaging experiences. 2022 for example we screened the premiere of "ABOVE AND BELOW THE ICE", a short film created by Philipp Grieß, bringing back unforgettable images from spending a night in the Arctic. Philipp Grieß was joined on stage by David I. Dinçer, director of "THE CORAL GUARDIAN" whose unreal underwater shots - produced entirely without animation - are a masterpiece of film art.
In 2023, we screened Matthieu Rytz's Deep Rising as the second showing in Germany of this now famous documentary film about deep-sea mining. In 2024, we dedicated the entire festival to solutions for the most pressing challenges.

For this years edition we we are looking for short-length movies and videos of all genres related to the ocean and its protection, ranging from climate change to noise mitigation.

The festival will take place at the Lichtmess cinema on the 12th of June, with free entry and catering, this year with lots of strawberries. If your movie stars interesting personas who live in a region accessible by train to Hamburg, we would love to invite them.

Help us create another memorable evening by submitting your movie, sharing it with your peers, or suggesting filmmakers we should contact.

Rules & Terms

1. DEEPWAVE Filmfestival is hereby granted the right to utilize an excerpt from any film submitted and accepted for exhibition at the Festival for promotional, educational, advertisement purposes. The individual or corporation submitting the film hereby warrants that it is authorized to commit the film for screening and understands and accepts these requirements and regulations.

2. It is the filmmaker´s responsibility to have all valid and correct copyright and licenses for their film.

3. All films must be in German or English, otherwise with English or German subtitles.

4. The films have a length of maximum 30 min.

5. The festival doesn`t offer screening fees.

7 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Jasmine Corbett

    Thrilled to have my film 'Where Devils Return' as part of the DEEPWAVE festival this year. Great communication from the team, and although I wasn't able to attend in person, I've heard the event was wonderful!

    June 2026
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  • Anthea ZHDK

    amazing team, very enthusiastic, eager to spread awareness, creating a nice atmosphere

    June 2025
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  • Christian Manzke

    I have really never experienced such disrespectful treatment as at this festival! Our film was selected and we received news through Filmfreeway. As the festival was to take place in my home town, I was delighted and wrote to the organizers. My plan was to get as many friends as possible to the festival because it was for a good cause! At first there was no reply from the festival director. 4 days before the screening, he wrote me a one-liner. He had re-edited our film without our consent and mixed it with other short films to create a collage in a different context. We nicely explained the reason why we didn't want our movie to be cut up and in this way in a different context. The organizer did not understand this and tried to persuade us in his next mail! We explained again with long explanations why such a treatment was out of the question for us! At first we heard nothing more from the organizer and only saw on the social media channel that our film no longer appeared there. The morning before the screening we got an email that our film was taken out of the program. We really like the theme of the festival and were happy to be a part of it. But we still don't understand why the films are selected for the festival and then recut by the festival director! Why can't you just show the films the way the directors of the films created their work themselves? ... None of the 4 films has benefited from the compilation ... only the festival organizer has lived out his creativity ... and was not able to accept any other opinion than his!

    June 2024
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  • Tom Vierus

    Although I myself wasn't able to attend the film festival the protagonist of my documentary took part in a plenary discussion after the film and really liked the festival:
    "I attented the DEEPWAVE film festival last year for a screening of a short documentary made by filmmaker and photographer Tom Vierus about a research project I led in the South Pacific, and together with several distinguished panelists participated in a discussion with the audience afterwards.
    It was a great experience, with a very interesting selection of movies, a highly interested audience that engaged in a well-informed discussion with the panelists, and particularly with a superb team organizing the event. Their energy and dedication to the ocean and to bringing this event to life truly shows, and I felt extremely well taken-care off both in the preparation and the event itself.
    A small but shining gem in the north of Germany. A big thank you to the organizers!"
    Keep up the great work!!

    March 2020
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  • Julia Barnes

    Although I did not attend the festival in person, I was happy for the opportunity to share my film with the audience at Deepwave film festival. The organizers communication was great and I heard good things about the screening. Thanks for putting on a festival about important ocean issues!

    February 2020
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