The FilmFestival Cottbus (FFC) is one of the leading international festivals of Eastern European film.
It will take place from November 3rd – 8th 2026 in Cottbus.

Founded in 1991, the festival focuses on feature films from the successor states of the former socialist countries in Europe, including all successor states of the former Soviet Union, and their economically and culturally closely related neighboring countries Finland, Greece and Turkey. The FFC is a filmn festival, which is aimed at a broad audience as well as cinephiles and industry representatives. It is open to all fiction genres – from fantasy filmst o experimental cinema, from arthouse cinema to Romantic comedies. It is flanked by the co-production market connecting cottbus, an industry meeting point for Central and Eastern European cinema.

The FFC wants to show good films and give them access to the market. It aims to strengthen talents, to arouse curiosity about East Central, Eastern and South Eastern Europe, the Baltics, the Causasus and Central Asia, to question stereotypes and to promote the dialogue between and with filmmakers from that region. Therefore, filmmakers are invited to join the creenings of their films. Networking meetings also provide opportunities for exchange between filmmakers and industry representatives.

The competitions sections for feature, short and youth films and other country- and theme-specific program sections offer audiences the unique opportunity to see productions from Eastern and Central Europe, which often have their German, international or world premieres in Cottbus. A total of fifteen prizes are awarded at the FFC, with a total value of more than 60,000 euros. A prominent international festival jury awards the main prize for the best feature film, the special prize for the best director as well as the prizes for outstanding acting performances - all of them receive the coveted prize sculpture LUBINA (Sorbian: the lovely one) in addition to the prize money. In addition, prizes will be awarded for the best youth and short films as well as for the best debut feature film and a film which explores the current state of intercultural dialogue. For those two awards, films from all festivals sections are nominated.

Awards & Prizes

(modifications reserved)

FEATURE FILM COMPETITION
The prizes are awarded by the International Festival Jury. The winners are honoured with prize money and the prize sculpture Lubina:

MAIN PRIZE FOR BEST FILM (equally divided between Dir./Prod.) 15.000,00 €(donated by Medienboard Berlin Brandenburg)

SPECIAL PRIZE FOR BEST DIRECTOR 7.500,00 €( donated by Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg rbb)

PRIZE FOR AN OUTSTANDING INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE 5.000,00 €(donated by Sparkasse Spree-Neiße)

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SHORT FILM COMPETITION
The prizes are awarded by the Short Film Jury. The winners are honoured with prize money and the prize sculpture Lubina.:

Main prize for the BEST SHORT FILM 2.500,00 € (donated by Druckzone, Cottbus)

Special prize for the BEST DIRECTOR 1.500,00 €(donated by Tiede +)

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GenNext COMPETITION
A student jury decides upon the allocation of the following award:

GenNext Award 5.000,00 € (donated by City of Cottbus)

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IN ADDITION, THE FOLLOWING MONETARY PRIZES WILL BE AWARDED:

DIALOGUE Prize for Intercultural Communication 2.000,00 € (donated by Rotary Club Cottbus)

Prize for BEST DEBUT 3.000,00 € (donated by BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg and Film University Babelsberg "Konrad Wolf")

AUDIENCE AWARD 3.000,00 €(donated by Lausitzer Rundschaus)

FIPRESCI-Award of the Féderation Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique

Award of the ECUMENICAL JURY 3.000,00 € (donated SIGNIS und INTERFILM)

Award of the FOUNDATION FOR THE SORBIAN PEOPLE (spěchowańske myto załožby za serbski lud): 3.000,00 €(donated by Foundation for the Sorbian people)

PICK A STORY Audience Logline Award 1.000,00 €(donated by Film Center Serbia)

MIOB IN SHORTS Award 1.000,00 €(donated by MIOB – Moving Images – Open Borders)

AKCIJA! - the film promotion award (donated by the School of Lower Sorbian Language and Culture and the FilmFestival Cottbus)

(modifications for all awards & prizes reserved)

All prizes awarded by the FilmFestival Cottbus are presented to the director of the winning film. The exceptions to this are the Main Prize for Best Film, which is shared equally between the director and the main producer of the winning film, and the Prize for an Outstanding Individual Performance, which is awarded to the winning actor or actress. Any internal agreements that may exist between producers, directors or other third parties regarding prize money are not relevant to the payment of prize money by the FilmFestival Cottbus to the winner in the sense described above and will not be considered by the FilmFestival Cottbus when paying out the prize money. The enforcement of internal agreements is the responsibility of the individual contracting parties.

Rules & Terms

FEATURE FILM COMPETITION
The Feature Film Competition is intended exclusively for feature length films from Eastern Europe and neighbouring countries (cf. territory) finalised as of January 1st, 2025 (including documentary and experimental works of a feature film nature) with a running time of no less than 50 minutes. The works preferred are expected to be the (co-)director’s first to fifth feature length film. Participation at feature film competition requires German premiere.

SHORT FILM COMPETITION
The criteria for the short film competition are essentially the same, with the only difference being that only films with a maximum length of 30 minutes are permitted. German premiere is required.

GenNext COMPETITION
The GenNext Competition presents current feature films by a new generation of young directors from Eastern Europe and neighbouring countries (cf. territory), as well as from Germany. It focuses on stories that reflect how young filmmakers see the world – ranging from coming-of-age narratives to themes of identity, friendship and family, as well as social, political and digital experiences. German submissions should not yet have had a theatrical release in their home country. For all other entries, German premieres are preferred.

FURTHER SECTIONS
Additional programme sections include the annual categories ECO EAST, SPECTRUM, HITS, COTTBUS MASTERS, DON’T CALL ME VINTAGE and HEIMAT | DOMOWNJA | DOMIZNA, CHILDREN’S FILM, as well as special sections. Graduate films may also be considered on an individual basis. Films with a documentary style are eligible for these sections as well.

Documentaries and TV series are only included in the program by invitation and cannot be submitted.

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TERRITORY
Feature films are eligible for submission if their producer or one of the co-producers and/or the director is based in Eastern Central and Eastern Europe (including all successor states of the former socialist countries whose capital was in Europe (Eastern Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, the Baltic States, the Caucasus, Central Asia) as well as Finland, Greece and Turkey, as well as feature films from other countries that thematically deal with aspects related to this territory.

Here is a list of all countries: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Germany*, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Republic of Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.

*) only for the sections Competition Youth Film and Heimat/Domownja/Domizna with a stronger focus on East German topics

FILM ENTRY
Documentaries and TV series are only included in the program by invitation and cannot be submitted.

Film entries can only be submitted digitally, physical submissions (hard disks, USB sticks, DVDs/BDs) will not be accepted and considered

The deadline for film submission is July 15th, 2026. In exceptional cases, late submissions may be considered upon agreement.

If selected, the submissions should be available to the FilmFestival Cottbus in DCP format. In this respect the following DCI standards are to be met: File format Motion jpeg2000, minimum projector resolution of 2048×1080 pixels, XYZ colour space and linear PCM 24 audio. Provided preliminary agreement is in the place the following formats are permitted in the FilmFestival Cottbus’ further programme sections: HDCAM, Blu-Ray, Beta, 35mm.

The following materials must be submitted by selection of the film into the programme: properly completed registration form including a screener link, short biography of the director, as well as portrait photo and filmography (also for documentaries, short films and student films), complete subtitling lists and subtitle files (in German or English), an mp4 file of the film for internal use, still photographs (incl. copyright notice), where applicable, dialogue lists and a film trailer

Submissions must be made via FilmFreeway. By submitting via FilmFreeway, the submitter assures that they have the right to submit the film or act as an authorized representative of all rights holders.The submitter further guarantees that all rights necessary for the screening of the film within the festival framework have been clarified, particularly music rights, the right to one’s image, and the rights to any archival material used.The submitter is liable for any third-party claims made in connection with the screening of the film at the FilmFestival Cottbus.

FILM SELECTION AND NOMINATION
The FilmFestival Cottbus reserves the right to decide which films will be admitted to the individual programme sections and, in individual cases, make decisions which run contrary to the festival’s rules and regulations. Nominations for the programme competitions are decided upon by the festival programme direction in cooperation with consultants or a team of curators, whose vote is then passed on to the resprective applicant. Should a film be nominated for participation at the FilmFestival Cottbus and the producer/holder of rights consent there with, this consent may no longer be withdrawn.The FilmFestival Cottbus reserves the right to exclude a film in case of violation of the regulations.

TRANSPORT AND INSURANCE
The shipping of parcels from non-EU countries is to be agreed upon in advance with the FilmFestival Cottbus’ head of programme coordination. The shipping costs to the festival for physical shipments are to be borne by the sender; in turn the festival bears responsibility for the costs of return postage. All shipments from non-EU countries are to bear the imprint »No commercial value – for cultural purposes only« . Screening film prints are to reach the FilmFestival Cottbus at the undermentioned address by no later than September 15th, 2026. All films and materials submitted will be insured whilst in Cottbus, the insurance coverage limited to the costs of making a new copy of the relevant materials. The return consignment of films and materials, submitted without the agreement of the FilmFestival Cottbus, is the sole responsibility of the addressor.

ONLINE SCREENINGS
FilmFestival Cottbus reserves the right to cooperate with an external streaming service provider. Any negotiations for a streaming presence of submitted films will be conducted separately. The submitter is free to decide whether their film should be part of the streaming offer or not. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our program department (film@filmfestival-cottbus.de). 

FINAL PROVISION
Submission of a film registration will be taken as acknowledgement of the above rules and regulations of the FilmFestival Cottbus.