The Independent Days International Filmfestival (IDIF) is one of Europe's most important festivals for independent filmmakers and part of the European Festivals Association.

Proud owner of the EFFE label (Europe for festivals - festivals for Europe) by the EU.
IDIF is an IMDb Award-listing qualifying festival!

The Festival is screening films of every length and genre from all over the world.

Audience Award:
Film Award of The City of Karlsruhe, prize money 1,500 Euro and Award Trophy KARLINA

Special Jury Awards:
Film Award of the Cultural Foundation Sparkasse Karlsruhe, prize money 2,500 Euro
Best Short Shortfilm Award (shorts up to 5 minutes) 500 Euro and Award Trophy KARLINA
Indie Award for Best Feature Film 1,000 Euro and Award Trophy KARLINA
Newbie Award for Best First Time Movie 1,000 Euro and Award Trophy KARLINA
Female Award for Best Female Director 1,000 Euro and Award Trophy KARLINA
Best Independent Actor Award: 500 Euro and Award Trophy by Vollack Group
Best Independent Actress Award: 500 Euro and Award Trophy by Vollack Group
UNESCO Creative City of Media Art Film Award for the Best Experimental Shortfilm: Award Trophy KARLINA
Underground Award for the Best No Budget Film: Award Trophy KARLINA
Best Film Composer Award: Award Trophy KARLINA

Films should be produced within the years 2020 to 2023. Short films as well as feature films can be submitted.

All contents and genres are acceptable (except for advertisements, image films) as long as they do not imply any illegal exposures according to German StGB law (e.g. pornography, excessive violence or sedition etc.).

Low Budget production costs have to be below 2,500 Euro per minute run-time, feature films (60 minutes and longer) shall not have more than approx. 250,000 Euro total costs and short films up to 30 minutes not more than approx. 50,000 Euro. No Budget production costs have to be below 100 Euro per minute run-time, feature films (60 minutes and longer) shall not have more than approx. 10,000 Euro total costs and short films up to 30 minutes not more than approx. 2,500 Euro. Besides the actual production costs, other indications like production facilities or infrastructure (company or film academy) are considered as well for classification.

Screening copies (e. g. USB-Storage, harddisk, DVD), which you have sent to the festival will be delivered back to your official adress (or to the next festival) with a postal service of our choice. Please note that cannot influence the speed of delivery.

Films that have been formally submitted to us and selected by our program committee can not be withdrawn.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • What an absolute treat to be a part of this fantastic festival. Got to see so many incredible top-notch films that have really left an impression on me and meet such wonderful filmmakers. Excellent programming all around. The theatre is beautiful and Karlsruhe is a great city. To top it off, it was an honor to receive the Female Director award for We Are The Prototypes. Would highly recommend this fest!

    July 2023
  • Anna Eret

    Thank you for nominating the film TO MEET ESTHER twice for the best female director and best actress!

    June 2023
  • Maria Drandaki

    I visited the festival for 2023 edition- very good selection, nice hospitality, friendly city- independent days is among top festivals- thank you very much

    May 2023
  • Lars Smekal

    The Independent Days in Karlsruhe are pretty amazing. Wonderful and friendly team and great communication. I recommend this festival to anybody. Networking was also quite nice and I truly enjoyed the film selection. Thanks!

    May 2023
  • Andreas Berg

    We had a wonderful time in Karlsruhe at the Independent Days. We loved the selection of Films and the ability to meet other Filmmakers from all over the world. The Festival was very well organized and the team was very welcoming and friendly. We are looking forward to coming back soon!

    May 2023