DIE SERIALE is Germany's oldest festival dedicated to independent series. We present digital series in order to connect, support and pay tribute to all talented creators from around the world and to celebrate their wonderful work. The supporting program includes the EDUCATIONAL with lectures and workshops and the SERIALE PRO with business talks, a conference program and round tables.

The 12th annual edition of DIE SERIALE will take place from 11th to 16th June 2026. The festival week will be held as a physical event with lectures, workshops, panel discussions, networking, pitch competition and DIMA digital market. All selected series will be screened in the local cinema & open air. The 12th Award Ceremony and the Red Carpet will take place on June 14 in the city hall of the City of Giessen.

DIE SERIALE is part of the Web Series World Cup.

Best Series
Best Directing
Best Leading Performance
Best Supporting Performance
Best Ensemble Cast
Best Cinematography
Best Screenplay
Best Editing
Best Original Score
Best Animation
Best Documentary
Best Long Form Series
Best Vertical Series
Best Pilot
Best Pitch

SERIES & PILOTS

All short form digital series are considered. Important is that all creators and directors were able to make the series according to their vision.

Submissions are accepted through FilmFreeway only.

All submitters must be 18 years or older.

The entry fees are not refundable and do not guarantee placement in the festival schedule.

Every short form digital series may participate, no matter when it was created or distributed.

At least three episodes have to be completed at the time of submission to qualify as a series. If only fewer episodes exist, they have to be submitted as a pilot.

Pilot episodes may be submitted in the corresponding category.

Submissions must contain english subtitles if shot in a different language.

The episodes to be screened will be selected by the festival team. For each series no more than 20 minutes of screening time can be guaranteed. In this time the maximum number of episodes to be screened is three.

The submission must contain full episodes. Trailers are not allowed.

If a series was submitted to earlier editions of „die Seriale“ the submission must contain at least three more episodes produced since the previous submission.

Each applicant may submit more than one series, however they must be submitted separately.

The organizing committee and jury members may not submit to „die Seriale“.

All festival selection, nomination and award decisions made by the festival team and the jury are final.

All submissions must be the intellectual property of the submitter or submitters must have permission for the use of all content rights including music contained in their series.

All series formats and genres are accepted, excluding pornography.

Proxy submissions are not allowed.

„die Seriale“ reserves the rights to use submitted content (including name, logo, posters and video clips) of the selected series & pilots for screening and streaming, presentation of awards and promotion.

Participants of „die Seriale“ agree to not hold the festival, its employees, directors and representatives responsible for any losses, damages, rights, claims and actions of any kind in connection with the event or resulting from acceptance, possession or use of any prize.

DIGITAL SERIES PITCH

Submissions are accepted through FilmFreeway only.

All submitters must be 18 years or older.

The entry fees are not refundable and do not guarantee placement in the festival schedule.

Submissions must be in English.

Each applicant may submit more than one pitch, however they must be submitted separately and only one of the same submitter may be selected.

The organizing committee and jury members may not submit to „die Seriale“.

All festival selection, nomination and award decisions made by the festival team and the jury are final.

All submission must be the intellectual property of the submitter.

All series formats and genres are accepted, excluding pornography.

Proxy submissions are not allowed.

„die Seriale“ reserves the rights to use submitted content (including name, logo, posters and video clips) of the selected series for screening (or streaming), presentation of awards and promotion.

Participants of „die Seriale“ agree to not hold the festival, its employees, directors and representatives responsible for any losses, damages, rights, claims and actions of any kind in connection with the event or resulting from acceptance, possession or use of any prize.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Duda Pannain

    An incredible festival experience! I loved being part of die Seriale, and I'm so glad I attended every day of the festival. The organization was impeccable, the hospitality was outstanding, and I had the opportunity to make meaningful connections with creators and industry professionals from around the world. I highly recommend this festival and hope to come back in the future!

    July 2026
  • Neil Oseman

    I've been twice to die Seriale and have found it very friendly, hospitable and enjoyable each time. The staff work very hard to make everyone feel welcome, translate through the language barriers and make sure a good time is had by all. Food (and often margarita shots!) is usually provided each night, plus drinks and snacks at the panels during the day. If partying into the small hours is your thing, there are daily opportunities!
    A wide variety of series are screened, from no-budget shot-on-a-phone vertical dramas to network-funded TV shows. Audiences at the screenings do mostly seem to be people attending with their own series, but that often seems to be the case with festivals.
    Aside from other series makers you will meet the organisers of many of the other main web series festivals around the world, so it's a good chance to get to know them and even get some discount codes for entering their events! These people are like a family that meets in different locations throughout the year, and if you go to partner events like Bilbao Seriesland or Rio Web Fest you will be sure to see familiar faces. If you're hoping to network with people who might produce or finance your series, these people seem thinner on the ground, but that's never been my goal so I may simply have been unaware of them.
    Gießen is not an obvious place for a series festival; it doesn't seem to have a notable arts or culture scene. On the plus side, everything in the town is easily walkable and it's not hard at all to get there from Frankfurt.
    Overall: highly recommended, and big thanks to the Csongor and the staff for a wonderful time!

    June 2026
  • Amarú Frida Rivera

    One if the bests experiences I've had. Full of different activities, amazing people and a beautiful hospitality. I went to pitch two of my series project and my desire to make it reality increased 100%. Very inspiring and lots of fun.

    If you have a web series or a series project I highly recommend this instance to grow up and make interesting, inspiring and good connections.

    Thank you very much!

    July 2024
  • Elena Isabel Walter

    Thank you for inviting our project to "die Seriale" we were thrilled by the atmosphere of the festival and really enjoyed our participation! The whole team gave us a very friendly and warm welcome.

    June 2024
  • Lars Smekal

    It really was one of the best film festivals I've been to. I met a lot of exciting people, watched high-quality series and was also invited to the partner film festival with my series. I can wholeheartedly recommend all filmmakers to visit this festival. Communicating with the festival team a few weeks before the event was not easy, but when it really got going, everything was wonderful. I would love to come back to Gießen next year!

    June 2024