Das Bremer Filmfest 2025

Welcome to Filmfest Bremen!

We are the up-and-coming festival with the highest grade of expansion in Germany. This year we were happy about nearly 16.000 visitors at our screenings and events.

Next to our competitions we celebrate the filmmaker´s guild, present workshops, panels, networking events, info tables, professional hosting and Q&As.

We have been visited by lots of well-known 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 Silver Bear Winner Andreas Dresen.

SUBMISSION DEADLINES:

21.06.2025 open for submissions

31.07.2025 Early Bird Deadline (short films $7,00, feature films $12,00)

31.10.2025 Regular Deadline (short films $10,00, feature films $15,00)

19.12.2025 Final Deadline (regional short films $12, feature films $20,00)

Competitions/Sections:

International competition Humour/Satire (short, middlelength, long)
International competition Innovation (narrative, visual, technical)
International competition of German Premiere Feature Films (all genres)
Regional competition Bremen/Lower-Saxony (Niedersachsen)
International competition „Gateways to the World – The Power of Ports“
Special award for best film with topic „Sustainability“
Special award for best documentary film with a regional topic: „globally local“

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

Awards

In 2026, the Filmfest Bremen awards prizes amount to a total of 42,000 EUR.

Awards in the international competition Humour/Satire:

Jury award: Best Feature-length Film (over 45 minutes) (5,000 EUR)
Jury award: Best Mid-length Film (15-45 minutes) (2,500 EUR)
Jury award: Best Short Film (under 15 minutes) (1,500 EUR)

Awards in the international competition Innovation:

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 Premiere:

Audience award: Best International Feature Film (7,500 EUR)
Audience award: Runner-Up Best International Feature Film (2,500 EUR)

Awards in the regional competition Bremen/Lower-Saxony (Niedersachsen):

Jury award: Best Film Bremen (3,000 EUR)
Jury award: Best Film Niedersachsen (3,000 EUR)
Jury award: Best Short Film Bremen + nearby (1,500 EUR)

Awards in the international competition „Gateways to the World – The Power of Ports“:

Jury award: Best International Full-Length Film (Fiction/Documentary – 2,000 EUR)
Jury award: Best International Short Film (Fiction/Documentary – 1,000 EUR)

Jury and audience awards in the 48h short film competition Klappe! (3,000 EUR)

SPECIAL AWARDS:

Jury Prize: Best Film on Sustainability

Focus: Biodiversity/Species Protection

Jury Prize: Best International Feature Film for (Fiction/Documentary – 2,000 EUR)
Jury Prize: Best International Short Film (Fiction/Documentary – 1,000 EUR)

Jury Award: Best Film with a regional topic (2.000 EUR)

Jury and audience awards 48h short film competition „Klappe!“ (3.000 EUR)

REGULATIONS/SUBMISSIONS

The entry fee for submissions of short and midlength films is 10$, for feature films the entry fee is 15$. Until the 30th of June, the early bird entry fee is 7$ for shorts and 12 $ for feature films. All Films must be submitted via filmfreeway.com, which will issue a confirmation via e-mail when the submission is successful. Filmfest Bremen cannot pay a screening fee in case the submitted film is selected for our programme.

Submissions must meet the following criteria:

Year of production: 2023/2024/2025
Screening formats: DCP (Digital Cinema Package), (exceptions can be made for specific web productions among other things)
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, 2025 for short films, feature films and regional ones have a later deadline of the 19th December.

Only complete online submissions via filmfreeway.com will be accepted.

In addition to the film, three high-resolution film stills, a poster (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 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 & SCREENING COPY

Every submitter will receive a positive or negative reply via email at the middle of January 2026. 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 2026. Every screening copy must be subtitled in English or German (or both).

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 the Filmfest Bremen.