Welcome to Filmfest Bremen!
(For a German description, please take a look at our website www.filmfestbremen.com)

We are the up-and-coming festival with the highest grade of expansion in Germany. This year we were happy to welcome about 19.000 visitors at our screenings and events.
Next to our competitions, we celebrate the filmmakers' guild, present workshops, panels, networking events, masterclasses, professional hostings and Q&As.
We have been visited by lots of exceptional stars and filmmakers like Golden Globe Winner John Malkovich, Academy Award Nominee Stephen Frears, Hugh Grant, Academy Award Winner Caroline Link, Emmy Award Winner Maria Schrader and Golden Globe Nominee Jason Isaacs.

Competitions/Sections:
• International competition Humour/Satire (short, medium length, long)
• International competition Innovation (narrative, visual, technical)
• International competition of German Premiere Feature Films (all genres)
• Regional competition Bremen + Surroundings (short, feature, documentary)
• International competition "The Power of Ports - Gateways to the World" (short, feature)
• Special award for best film with topic "Sustainability" (all genres and lengths)
• Special award for “Diversity” (short & feature, all genres)
• Special award for best documentary film with a regional topic: "Globally Local"

We are the only film festival in Germany to focus on innovative and humorous film productions of all genres, new formats and cinematographic narratives, emerging talents, and the active involvement of international and national but also local film and media makers.

Awards & Prizes

In 2027, the Filmfest Bremen awards prizes amount to a total of 40,000 EUR.

Awards in the international competition Humour/Satire:
• Jury award: Best Feature-length Film (over 40 minutes) (5,000 EUR)
• Jury award: Best Mid-length Film (15-40 minutes) (2,500 EUR)
• Jury award: Best Short Film (under 15 minutes) (1,500 EUR)

Awards in the international competition Innovation (all forms and lengths):
• Jury award: Best narrative innovation (1,500 EUR)
• Jury award: Best visual innovation (1,500 EUR)
• Jury award: Best technical innovation (1,500 EUR)

Awards in the competition German Premieres:
• Audience award: Best International Feature Film (5,000 EUR)
• Audience award: Runner-Up Best International Feature Film (1,500 EUR)
• Jury award: Best International Short Film (1,500 EUR)

Awards in the regional competition Bremen & Surroundings:
• Jury award: Best Fiction Film Bremen >20 Minutes (2,000 EUR)
• Jury award: Best Documentary Film Bremen >20 Minutes (2,000 EUR)
• Jury award: Best Short Film Bremen <20 Minutes (1,500 EUR)
The following applies as a reference to Bremen: Personal connection of the filmmakers to the metropolitan region in and around Bremen through place of residency, family, profession/education, plot of the film project or locations. For example, Oldenburg, Rotenburg an der Wümme and Delmenhorst still belong to the sphere of activity of the regional film scene, whereas Hildesheim, Osnabrück or Hannover are not local enough.

Awards in the international competition "The Power of Ports - Gateways to the World":
• Jury award: Best International Feature Film (Fiction/Documentary - 2,000 EUR)
• Jury award: Best International Short Film (Fiction/Documentary - 1,000 EUR)

Rules & Terms

All Films must be submitted via filmfreeway.com which will issue a confirmation via e-mail when the submission is successful. Filmfest Bremen can pay a screening fee of 200 EUR for each feature film that is selected for our programme.

Submissions must meet the following criteria:
• Year of production: 2025/2026
• Screening formats: DCP (Digital Cinema Package) and MP4 (if possible)
• Please provide English subtitles in any case, even if your film is in English. German subtitles are also very welcome with international productions.
Deadline for submission: October 31, 2026 for short films. Feature films and regional ones have a later final deadline on December 1st.

Only complete online submissions via filmfreeway.com will be accepted. In addition to the film, three high-resolution film stills, a poster and trailer (if available), a short synopsis (English, preferably also in German), a picture and a short biography of the director which may be used for the festival programme as well as for press releases related to Filmfest Bremen (print and online) have to be provided.

SELECTION
A committee of several people (up to 15 in each category) watches all submissions at private screenings and selects the films for the programme. All submissions are watched by at least two or more independent members of the committee. There is no legal claim to participate in the festival.

NOTIFICATION AND SCREENING COPY
Every submitter will receive a positive or negative reply via email at the middle of January 2027. We kindly ask you not to inquire in written form or by phone. Every submitter is obligated to provide the Filmfest Bremen with a screening copy, should their film be chosen for the programme. The screening copy has to reach the festival by the middle of Feb 2027. Every screening copy must be subtitled in English (or in German, too).

RIGHTS OF USE
With the submission to the festival, the submitting person ensures that he/she/they is/are the holder(s) of the rights and gives for the submitted film automatically permission for (a) public screening(s) of their film at the Filmfest Bremen. Furthermore, they grant the Filmfest Bremen the right to use film stills, the film trailer and short excerpts of the film free of charge for promotional purposes in regards to the Filmfest Bremen.

FILM TRANSPORT
The costs of sending the screening copy to the Filmfest Bremen must be covered by the sender. The costs of returning the screening are covered by Filmfest Bremen.

95 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Eva Schneuwly

    It was a lovely festival. We were warmly welcomed, it was well organized, and communication in advance was excellent.

    April 2026
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  • Chris Hirschhaeuser

    Filmfest Bremen is always a great festival to visit. Good communication with the organizers , nice events to meet filmmakers, 2 screening times, lot of friendly people around. Thank you for taking our short "Big Bad Boys" into the line-up!

    April 2026
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  • Jonathan Schörnig

    I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the festival team. The selection of films in the competition was consistently high-quality. There wasn’t a single film I saw where I didn’t understand why it had been chosen. That’s a question I’ve sometimes asked myself at other festivals. It was also wonderful that everything was so close together and the theaters weren’t scattered all over the city. I can truly recommend Filmfest Bremen and would love to come back, especially to focus more on the high-quality masterclass program. I’d also like to point out that this is NOT a festival where you get the feeling that your submission fee is being charged just to make money. Your submissions are actually reviewed. Thank you, Filmfest Bremen.

    April 2026
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  • Kateryna Sazonova

    Very honoured to have been selected to screen my environmental sci-fi short 2389: Coming Home! Thank you for the Sustainability Award nomination - means a ton for me!
    Great festival that has been around for a long time! Huge beautiful full venues and a crowd of high end film production professionals to connect with. Great line up of films. Really great communication that covered not only receiving the films and materials, but also helping with accommodation and travel arrangements, gathering info for social media promotion and more! This is one of the very few festivals that provide some monetary travel assistance for the filmmakers! In the time of a ton of fake festivals, this one is the real deal!
    Awesome team!
    I hope I'll be able to attend the next addition as well!

    April 2026
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  • Mauro Baptistella

    Incredible festival that embraces diverse cultures, ideas, and bold expressions. Thank you for the opportunity to screen ‘Prazer, Estela’ for such a wonderful audience. Long live the festival!

    April 2026
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