The EICFF is located in the old quarter of Heilbad Heiligenstadt - a town with over a thousand years of history right in the center of Germany. Held in a beautiful architectural ensemble between an old water mill and a big granary - one of the town's oldest remaining structures, it's one of the latest additions to the Eichsfeld region's growing and buzzing cultural life.

We want to give filmmakers all over the world the opportunity to show their work to an audience that loves film as much as we all do. And what could be better than enjoying those precious gems on a warm summer night with fresh popcorn and a cold drink from our bar?

All the festival work is done by film enthusiasts in their free time. We believe that the best film festivals are those that are organized and run by people who voluntarily pour their hearts and souls into it.

You can submit your short films under 30 minutes and feature films over 60 minutes. We believe that any genre is worth watching. We don't care whether your budget is big, small or non-existent.

Do you want to change the world or do you want to tell a silly story? Do you want to make your audience laugh or cry? It doesn't matter - there's only one rule:

Don't be boring! 🎆

Awards & Prizes

🏆 Best Short Film (including comedies)
🏆 Best Short Documentary
🏆 Special Award
🏆 Daily Audience Awards

The winners will receive a handcrafted trophy, made by a local artist.

📽️ A feature film may be selected for screening, but there is no competition.
If a feature film is selected however, we'll pitch it to our cinema distributor in Germany.

🎟️ All selected filmmakers will receive a free submission waiver for the next year's edition.

Rules & Terms

0.) General

We don't put limitations on production year, budget, premiere status or genre.

Submissions must include:
+ short synopsis
+ poster
+ at least one still frame
+ trailer (for films longer than 20 minutes)
+ online screener OR download link
+ subtitles in either English or German (if necessary)

By submitting you declare that you obtained all the necessary licenses and permits for publicly presenting your work.

If selected, you grant us the rights to publicly screen your work in front of a live audience without additional charge on up to two separate occasions (once at the festival's main event and optionally at another smaller event throughout the year). Additionally you grant us the rights to use and / or alter the material included in your submission (synopsis, trailer, poster, still frames) for promotional purposes only.

1.) Short Film

Any film under 30 minutes. All genres are accepted.

2.) Short Comedy

Any type of comedy short film under 30 minutes.

3.) Short Documentary

Any documentary under 30 minutes.

4.) Children's Short

Any type of family-friendly short film aimed at a younger audience.

5.) Feature Film

Any film over 60 minutes in length.

We may select a single feature film for screening, but there is no competition. If a film is selected, it will be pitched to our cinema distributor in Germany. However, a distribution deal is not guaranteed.

6.) Lokalhelden / Local Heroes

This category is reserved for projects that have any connection whatsoever to the Eichsfeld region. The submission MUST contain an explanation for said connection.

7.) Special Categories

We have added two special categories this year: "Christmas Films" and "Young Filmmakers". Both categories are not part of the main event, but will be screened at separate events.

7a.) Christmas Films

Entries in this category MUST be Christmas-themed. We only accept films with German dialogue or no dialogue at all. Christmas films are being screened at a small venue in Heiligenstadt during the weekends of the local Christmas market in December.

Submissions may be selected for screening in December 2025 or December 2026, depending on their submission date.

7b.) Young Filmmakers

This category is reserved for filmmakers under 25 years old. Age verification is required for all submissions. Selected films in this category will be screened on a separate date before the main event. The best entries will be considered by our jury for the main event.

8.) Awards

Our jury will nominate 4-8 short films and short documentaries for the "Best Short Film" and "Best Short Documentary" awards respectively. The "Special Award" is reserved for outstanding work regardless of submission category.

All winning filmmakers will be notified before the festival.

During the festival's main event in August the audience will vote for their favourite film each day to determine the recipients of the audience awards.
4 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Robert Arnold

    super festival mit einem nettem team!

    April 2026
    Helpful
  • Beatrice Aliné

    Tolles Festival & tolles Team,
    vielen Dank euch für die schöne Zeit und die Auswahl an so vielen interessanten Filmen!
    Wir haben uns bei euch sehr wohl gefühlt!

    August 2025
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Hallo Bea! Vielen Dank für die lieben Worte. Wir haben uns sehr gefreut, dass ihr bei uns wart und hoffen, euch im nächsten Jahr vielleicht wieder zu sehen.

  • Zach Tolchinsky

    Amazing festival, at a beautiful location with a thoughtful and engaged crew. It was such an honor to attend and participate. I've been to a lot of festivals and I have never experienced as much hospitality and generosity as Eichsfelder. This festival rules!

    August 2025
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Hey Zach! Thank you so much for the glowing review. It was a pleasure to have you as our guest. We hope to see your wild movie ideas being realized soon. You're always welcome here!

  • Torben Sachert

    We were very honored to have been chosen for the main program with our project "LUZIE". Sadly we could not attend the festival in person, so we cannot award stars for "Quality", "Hospitality" and "Networking". The Communication was wonderful, thus our Overall Rating and Value cannot be less than five Stars. Thank you for selecting us and keep your lovely motto "Don't be boring!"!

    We hope to meet you next year in person with our follow-up project :-)

    Cheers, Eichsfeld!

    August 2025
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Hi Torben! Thanks a lot for the kind words. We're happy to hear that you got the next project already in the making. Looking forward to it!