The Snowdance Independent Film Festival is the national and international most respected "new" festival in Germany. It mainly shows productions made with little or no state funding. Furthermore, Snowdance prefers films which are not dominated by the influence of TV stations or major studios. Snowdance sees itself as the main German festival for independent, free-thinking film makers.

Supported by important creatives of the German film scene, Snowdance grows in its first seven years to one of the hottest und most passionate indie film festivals in Europe.

Festival Director Thomas "Tom" Bohn realized "Straight Shooter" with Dennis Hopper and parts of the "Tatort" tv-series as a filmmaker. Snowdance's special guests have been the famous national actors Heiner Lauterbach, Til Schweiger, Götz Otto, Nora Tschirner, Ulrike Folkerts, Max Tidof, Axel Milberg, Valerie Niehaus, Ursula and many others.

The Snowdance Independent Film Festival is powered and organized by Indie-Stars UG, one of the established German Independent film productions. So this festival is made by engaged film creatives for engaged film creatives and their audience. Snowdance does not offer any red carpet or any VIP-corner. But it's a meeting and melting point for actors, directors, producers and all sorts of people who are interested in film.
Come and have a look !

Awards & Prizes

Snowdance Award for the best feature film
Price money : $ 2.000,-

Snowdance Award for the best documentary
Price money : $ 2.000,-

Snowdance Award for the best Short Film
Price money: $ 1.000,-

Snowdance Award for the best Social Spot
Price money: $ 500,-

Snowdance Award for the best direction

Snowdance Award for the best script

Rules & Terms

1. We do not offer any discounts or fee waivers.

2. SUBMISSIONS
When submitting to SNOWDANCE you are agreeing to screen the submitted film during the dates of the festival. SNOWDANCE will not pay any screening fees for presentation of the film during the festival.

3. ENTRY REGULATIONS
SNOWDANCE is a competitive showcase for domestic and international feature films and documentaries. SNOWDANCE reserves the right to determine the eligibility of any project submitted. Only works completed in the last two years are eligible for selection.
We only accept online-Screeners (Filmfreeway). When you send DVDs, BluRays or any other material before being invited, SNOWDANCE will not judge it and will not send it back. SNOWDANCE does not accept additional e-mail informations about your film.

4. FILM/VIDEO ENTRIES
All non-english language entries must have English subtitles. Works in progress will not be judged. From SNOWDANCE selected screening material will be returned, press and any application materials will NOT be returned . All features and documentaries submitted must be available in BluRay or DCP for festival presentation.

5. COMPETITION
The SNOWDANCE Film Festival is a competitive event and unless notified otherwise, all films officially selected are eligible for competition. All films are nominated and voted upon by an impartial jury of filmmakers, industry professionals, festival programmers and film aficionados.

6. PRESS MATERIALS
If selected, SNOWDANCE will require an Electronic Press Kit (EPK) to include high-resolution production stills, key art, bio and filmography of the director, production notes and full cast and crew credits.

7. LIABILITY
Although every possible care will be taken with tapes, films, drives and files while in our possession, we cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage. Do not send original or master prints, tapes, files or drives. Please keep SNOWDANCE notified of any address/phone number changes.

8. SHIPPING
The cost of shipping all entries and films to the festival must be paid by the entrant. SNOWDANCE will resent the prints of the shortlist back to the filmmaker. SNOWDANCE will not be responsible for expedited or overnight shipping charges to other organizations. Also, SNOWDANCE cannot guarantee shipment of prints to other festivals during the days of the festival. All international entries must be sent 'free domicile' to the SNOWDANCE office with all transportation charges, duties, and taxes prepaid by the shipper.

9. REPRODUCTION AGREEMENT
Submission of an entry gives SNOWDANCE permission to have excerpts of accepted work, including film trailers, shown in all promotional activities realted to the festival.

10.NOTIFICATION
Films selected for SNOWDANCE will be notified no later than December 7, 2019.

34 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Daniel Raboldt

    The SNOWDANCE Independent Film Festival is simply the best festival for filmmakers who are interested in networking with other filmmakers. Taking place in one the most beautiful medieval towns in Germany the festival team is doing a perfect job to bring the actors, directors, producers and writers together. We've been there in 2020 with our feature film "A Living Dog" and we were just amazed by all the new friendships we found there.
    The choice of films is also very fascinating and the overall quality of feature films as well as shortfilms is really great. We saw everything from hard hitting genre films to mindbending documentaries. There were a lot of workshops, meetings with famous people of the German film and television industry, great food and - as I wrote above - all of this is happening in a magical little town in Bavaria. Definitely a recommendation and you absolutely should stay the whole time!

    February 2020
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  • Dr. Michael W. Driesch

    Wow! Incredible festival experience. Four screenings of our movie "Frieda - Coming Home" with a very commited audience in beautiful bavarian Landsberg together with fantastic colleagues from all over the world and a perfect selection of movies: If you'll ever be able to attend the Snowdance Independent Film Festival with your own move, you can count yourself lucky! And thanx to Tom, Anna, Rieke and the rest of the wonderful team for your hospitality! It's worth making the next film just to be able to be there again ;-))

    February 2020
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  • Sawat Ghaleb

    Dancing with great, pwoerfull, well selected films at snowdance filmfestival, was a wonderful experience.
    Very cozy, friendly and entertaining event.
    I was very happy for the nominations of my short( For a kiss in Baghdad) ..a lovely, highly motivated, audience and the presence of top german stars was the highlights of the festival, thank u snowdance

    February 2020
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  • Adnan G. Köse

    SNOWDANCE ist a great Film Festival. Our Drama "ENEME" was screened there in "Official Selection" and we were very glad to be part of this Festival in January 2020. The Team around Festival Director Tom Bohn is very friendly and professional and we had three exciting days by wonderful films in Landsberg / Bavaria. I hope that we come back to Snowdance with a new film. Great job, Tom. I have only one wish: There must be a price for the "Best Screenplay", not only for the "Best Direction" or "Best Cinematography". Because: A good film needs a good Screenplay 😏

    February 2020
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  • Victor Gütay

    Snowdance is a very beautiful and charming festival in Landsberg am Lech. One of the things I loved was, that though it feels very professional, it never is overly formal and by that makes it easy to get in touch with other filmmaker and the audience. I was very proud to have my Film "In my shadow" screen there. Thanks to Tom Bohn and his Team!

    February 2020
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