Press releases

Last Sunday's matinee awards ceremony concluded the international and regional competitions of the 9th Filmfest Bremen. Despite the early summer weather and the associated poor cinema figures nationwide, one thing is certain: the attendance figures for Filmfest Bremen remained constant compared to the previous year and could have been exceeded again in other weather conditions. The festival program attracted over 14,000 visitors to a wide variety of events.

As part of the Filmfest Gala on April 10, Sparkasse Bremen awarded the Bremen Film Prize 2024 to the American actor and producer John Malkovich for his complete cinematic oeuvre. The prize, endowed with 8,000 euros, is awarded in close cooperation with Filmfest Bremen.

Filmfest Bremen is one of the fastest growing film festivals in Germany. It opens its doors for the ninth time this year and promises a program that shines with creative diversity and international participation. From 10.04.2024 to 14.04.2024, film enthusiasts will have the opportunity to discover an extraordinary range of themes and genres in the 94 films competing for prizes in the four festival sections. Many films will be screened in the presence of the film teams, who will travel from all over Germany, but also from France, Ireland, the Netherlands and the UK, as well as from China, the USA, Chile, South Africa and Canada, to engage with the audience. A total of 33 films are celebrating their German premiere at this year's festival, 8 of them even their world premiere.

From April 10 to 14, Filmfest Bremen celebrates its ninth edition with 33 German premieres. Over 100 films from 21 countries were selected from almost 800 submissions to compete for prizes at competition at six venues for prize money of over 50,000 euros. There will also be workshops, panels, audience discussions and concerts.

At the Schauburg festival cinema on March 23, 2024, the curtain will rise on around forty short film premieres in the Klappe! Starting at 8 p.m., they will prove how much story can fit into just three minutes – on a specific theme, with a specific subject and produced in just 48 hours.

The Theater am Goetheplatz will shine in green and white on April 13, 2024. To mark the 125th anniversary of SV WERDER BREMEN, a selection of short films dedicated to the club's rich history in three minutes will be shown and awarded in cooperation with the 9th Bremen Film Festival.

8th Filmfest Bremen: From comedy to AI to KyrgyzstanWorld, European and German premieres from 28 countries will be screened from 12 to 16 April 2023 in the cinemas Schauburg, City46, Atlantis and Cinema as well as in the Theater am Goetheplatz.

The actress and director Maria Schrader will be awarded the Bremen Film Prize 2023. She impressed with the wide range of her film work. Sparkasse Bremen will award the prize together with Filmfest Bremen at a gala in Bremen’s Theater am Goetheplatz.

In its eighth edition, the Filmfest Bremen will award more than 50,000 euros in prize money. Over 100 films will be screened at seven venues from 12 to 16 April 2023, plus audience discussions, retrospectives, workshops and more.

The countdown to the eighth Filmfest Bremen ignites on Saturday, 1 April 2023, the 48-hour short film competition Klappe! made possible by Sparkasse Bremen. On Saturday, 1 April from 8 p.m., around forty short filmmakers will prove how much story fits into just three minutes of running time – on a specific motto, with a concrete subject, produced in just 48 hours.