Since its founding in 1977, the Grenzland-Filmtage Selb has become an internationally recognized film festival, gaining acclaim far beyond its Franconian hometown. Directors such as Aki Kaurismäki and Andreas Dresen have presented their first films in Selb.

For nearly five decades now, the annual Grenzland-Filmtage Selb film festival has taken place in Selb, Bavaria (close to the Czech border), traditionally during the week after Easter. We showcase films that explore borders, both literal and metaphorical, and that leave a lasting impression. Inspired by its geographical location, the festival has focused on Eastern European films and themes since its foundation. Since the 40th Grenzland-Filmtage, the festival itself has literally crossed borders, offering a special film program in the neighboring Czech town of Asch. To this day, the festival is organized purely on a voluntary basis.

We present a variety of films at the festival, including feature films, mid-length films, short films (including animations and experimental films), documentaries, and children's films. While we welcome submissions from established filmmakers, we especially encourage newcomers and independent filmmakers to submit their films to the Grenzland-Filmtage Selb film festival.

The informal atmosphere of the festival delights visitors and filmmakers alike every year. The festival is characterized by short distances between cinemas, ample networking opportunities during the traditional partner festival brunch or city tour, and plenty of room for personal interaction at the cinema, sausage stand, or film festival pub.

Come to the festival and become part of our family!

Awards & Prizes

All films outside of special programs (e.g., the opening ceremony) enter the audience awards competitions. If eligible, the films also compete for our additional prizes as listed here:

Best Eastern European Film: For many years, the Best Eastern European Film prize has been selected by a five-person jury. This prize is donated by the City of Selb and comes with €1,500 in prize money.

Newcomer Award: Thanks to our partnership with Sparkasse Hochfranken, the best work of young filmmakers is selected by a three-person jury, and the winning film receives €500 in prize money.

Audience Awards: The new audience award, a porcelain sculpture entitled "Verrückte Grenzsteine," was exclusively designed and created by artist Barbara Flügel. Winners in the feature film, documentary, short film, and medium-length feature film categories are determined by audience voting.

Indie-Award: Since 2022, the Indie Award has been given to the best independent film in the program. The winner is selected by director Michael von Hohenberg and receives a €500 prize, donated by PROBAU Massivhaus GmbH.

ZuKi-prize for the best children’s film: The ZuKi prize for the best children's film is awarded to the film that receives the most votes from the ZuKi jury, which consists of about 250 children from local after-school care facilities.

All award recipients receive a one-year pro plan from our transfer partner, MyAirBridge. The awards ceremony traditionally takes place on Sunday morning at around 11:00 a.m., following a social gathering with breakfast.

Rules & Terms

The Grenzland-Filmtage are an annual international film festival held in Selb (Germany) and in Aš (Czech Republic). In addition, a best-of selection of films will be presented in Regensburg (Germany). The festival is dedicated to films about borders (literal and metaphorical), with a special focus on productions from Eastern European countries. The festival is organized and presented by Verein zur Förderung grenzüberschreitender Film- und Kinokultur e.V. (non-profit organization of volunteers).

General Rules and Conditions
- We accept submissions of all kinds of fictional films (feature-length, mid-length, and short films of all genres). The maximum running time accepted for documentary works is 60 minutes.
- The submitting person must have the permission from the rights owner to submit.
- Submitted films should have been produced within the last two years.
- For films in languages other than German or English, we require English subtitles.
- We only accept DCP or HD video file formats for screening copies.

Please note that submissions that go against these simple rules will be rejected automatically.

Selection Process
- We will review all submissions by the end of January.
- If your film is selected for our program, you will be contacted in February.
- Selected films outside of special programs (e.g., the opening ceremony) will be automatically entered into our awards competitions (see Awards & Prizes).
- As a small, independent film festival, we do not pay screening fees, but invite all filmmakers to visit us in Selb. We will cover the cost of accommodation at a hostel in Selb for up to two people per film, or we will pay 25 € per night per person. Additionally, we reimburse travel expenses up to € 200 (€ 350 for visitors from non-EU countries) per film, regardless of distance or number of people. Reimbursements can only be made with a receipt.

Grenzland-Filmtage Selb reserves the right to make changes.

7 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
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Networking
  • Melle Windig

    Thank you for giving us the opportunity to share our short stop motion film Cell Buddies with your audience! Unfortunately we could not attend but the communication with the festival was excellent.

    May 2026
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  • Mariia Konopatova

    A very friendly film festival. Our team was visit the wonderful town of Selb. Thank you for the prize in the children's program for our film "Yuri Far Far Away"

    April 2026
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  • Lasse Buchhop

    We had a lovely time in Selb.
    Thoughtful organisation, well selected and arranged films and a genuine care for all of the guests.
    Now it's on us to make films worthy of being invited again ;)

    April 2026
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  • Michael Eibl

    Very welcoming and an incredibly warm, homey atmosphere. Will definitely be back.

    April 2026
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  • Lucie Leichsering

    war ganz doll schön bei euch - herzlichen Dank!

    April 2026
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