| From June 8 to 14, the 49th edition of the world's largest International Animation Film Festival took place in Annecy, France. It was literally overrun with a record number of over 18,200 accredited participants from 118 countries. The festival's focus country was Hungary this year and it also welcomed newcomers from Afghanistan, Guatemala, Montenegro and Rwanda. At the same time, the well-organized MIFA film market celebrated its 40th anniversary and welcomed 6,500 professionals, with 196 booths, 400 journalists and more than 4,500 students, plus thousands of spectators every evening enjoying free open-air screenings on the green meadows at Le Pâquier. Over the course of the week, 23,500 festivalgoers and fans explored the artistry of the award-winning series ARCANE in an exclusive exhibition. All of this was made possible with the help of 650 dedicated volunteers. In the 2025 edition, Annecy hosted a long list of esteemed creators from the worlds of animated film, television, shorts and more, and featured appearances by Michel Gondry, Joanna Quinn, Didier Brunner, Genndy Tartakovsky, Julie Gayet, Jared Bush, Andy Serkis, Matt Groening, Matt Selman, David Silverman, Pete Docter, Raphael Bob-Waksberg, Sepideh Farsi, Ron Clements, Michel Ocelot, Raman Djafari, Chris Sanders, and many more. This year German Films with Animation Germany initiated a Canada-Germany Animation Lab, in partnership with the commercial department of the Canadian Embassy in Berlin, in cooperation with the state film fund Telefilm Canada, which aimed to strengthen co-productions. The program included both virtual and physical elements. As part of this project, animation producers from Germany and Canada participated in carefully curated virtual workshops, which offered insights into different aspects of co-production and included training on pitch preparation, funding strategies, B2B meetings, and individual mentoring. Subsequently, the producers from Canada and Germany participated in networking activities during the Annecy International Animation Film Market MIFA. Animation Germany and German Films, in cooperation with AG Kurzfilm, presented a total of 19 animated feature, short films, and TV series, commissioned productions, specials and German VR / AR productions at their MIFA stand. Also introduced were feature animated films from the new non-competitive section "Annecy presents", which were screened in competition sections and various categories, such as German feature animation coproductions STITCH HEAD by Steve Hudson, MEMORY HOTEL by Heinrich Sabl or BALENTES by Giovanni Columbu. The filmmakers were introduced to more than 300 international guests at the German Reception on Tuesday. The film festival was crowned by its closing ceremony and awards presentation. This year, the coveted Cristal for a Feature Film went to ARCO by Ugo Bienvenu. The Paul Grimault Award went to DANDELION'S ODYSSEY by Momoko Seto. The feature film CHAO, by Yasuhiro Aoki, received the Jury Award. The Audience Award went to LITTLE AMÉLIE OR THE CHARACTER OF RAIN, by Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han. In the short films category, Pierre-Luc Granjon won over both the jury and the public by scooping the Cristal, the Audience Award and the André Martin Award for his pinscreen work THE NIGHT BOOTS. German Award winner at Annecy was the series FULL NEST - LENA'S FARM by director Elena Walf, produced by Studio Film Bilder from Germany, which won the Jury Award for a TV Series TV Films in Competition. Badge holders who couldn’t catch everything during the MIFA program can visit the Video Library, where 171 sessions are still available for viewing until December 2025. German animated films are export hits. In the past eight years, animated films have been extremely successful abroad, and the trend is rising. Among the five most successful German films abroad, there are usually two animated films with the best box office and sales figures. No wonder, because in Germany there is a huge creative talent pool with over 100 production companies and studios in the animation sector. | |
| The 27th edition of the German Film Fest Madrid took place between June 11 and 15 at Cines Embajadores, celebrating German Cinema in all its diversity and facets. The festival opened on June 11 with Laura Laabs’ RED STARS UPON THE FIELD in presence of the director. We were also pleased to welcome director Justine Bauer and DoP Pedro Carnicer of SMELL OF BURNT MILK – the winner of this year’s audience award. Felicidades! The festival successfully closed on June 15 with ROCK'N'ROLL RINGO in presence of director Dominik Galizia and DoP Elias C. J. Köhler. As in previous years, German Films showcased a selection of outstanding short films from the NEXT GENERATION SHORT TIGER program. As a representative of the 2024 program, director Hannah Wolny introduced her short film GOOD FOR ME to the Spanish audience. Once again, we also teamed up with the Goethe-Institut Madrid for the festival, which presented a three-part focus series dedicated to the actress and director Nicolette Krebitz. Other highlights in the program included the preview of ADIOS BUENOS AIRES with a personal introduction to the audience by co-author Fernando Castets. The film will be released to Spanish cinemas on June 27. The full program of the festival:
RED STARS UPON THE FIELD by Laura Laabs
SMELL OF BURNT MILK by Justine Bauer
TEACHES OF PEACHES by Philipp Fussenegger & Judy Landkammer
THE NIGHT IS DARK AND COLDER THAN THE DAY by Christina Friedrich
BANDITS by Katja von Garnier
TOMORROW I’LL BE BRAVE by Bernd Sahling
NEXT GENERATION SHORT TIGER 2024 by various directors
WILD by Nicolette Krebitz
EDGE OF NIGHT by Türker Süer
THE HEART IS A DARK FOREST by Nicolette Krebitz
ADIOS BUENOS AIRES by German Kral
ROCK’N’ROLL RINGO by Dominik Galizia The program, which consisted of a total of 12 feature-length works, was completed by three amazing short films by Vuk Jevremovic (MORAL SUPPORT), Malin Neumann (MÛ) and Martin Schmidt (LINES), which were shown together with selected feature-length films. The festival is organized in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut Madrid and the Amigos del Goethe-Institut España, and in partnership with FILMIN. | |
| From June 19 to 22, the RO Days | Industry Events took place in Cluj, Romania, as part of the Transilvania International Film Festival. For the second time in a row, German Films hosted an industry lunch that brought together producers, filmmakers, festival representatives, sales agents and representatives of film institutions. RO Days | Industry Events is an important platform for the local and regional scene and offers a range of opportunities such as workshops, masterclasses, panels and pitchings. In addition, the Transilvania Pitch Stop presented 10 projects looking for co-production partners, sales agencies, et cetera, among others. The Full Moon Creative Lab, which focused on genre TV series, also took place for the second time and presented 3 projects whose screenwriters participated in a residency program in Transylvania. Among the participants were the screenwriters from Germany Matthias Börner (Marcibán) and Lisa Brunke (Under the Mountain), who presented their projects together with their co-screenwriters. | |
| This year, the Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) placed a special focus on the art of film by celebrating the 120th anniversary of Chinese cinema together with the 130th anniversary of world cinema. Numerous German productions and co-productions were also invited to this A-list festival. The 27th edition of the SIFF took place from June 13 to 22. Two German films were represented in the main competition. YOU BELIEVE IN ANGELS, MR. DROWAK? by Nicolas Steiner was screened in the Main Competition and was awarded Best Cinematography for DoP Markus Netroy. The second German production LUISA was well-recieved by the audience as well. A delegation of each of the films presented their respective project at the Shanghai festival in person. Since it is the only “A” category festival in China, the Shanghai International Film Festival is regarded as an important festival for numerous filmmakers. A total of 26 German productions and co-productions were screened in Shanghai this year, including a separate section with Focus Germany, in which German films that have already attracted attention at past international festivals are shown. | |
| The focus of the next session for the English-language KINO! FILM SALON online film club on July 20th will be CUCKOO by Tilman Singer. This enigmatic mystery horror thriller celebrated its world premiere as a Special Gala screening at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2024. Our curator Jim Kolmar's comment on the movie: "Tilman Singer's follow up to his singular debut, LUZ, is a shockingly audacious, enigmatic marvel. CUCKOO stars Hunter Schaefer as Gretchen, a 17-year-old dragged reluctantly to an isolated resort by her newly widowed father Luis (Marton Czokas). Pretty soon, things start to get weird, perhaps something to do with preening proprietor Herr König (a delightfully crackpot Dan Stevens). Despite wielding some familiar genre tropes, CUCKOO emerges itself as something far more complex, deploying a brace of visual and sonic devices, unpredictable plotting and a bizarre tone that conveys the sense of multiple stories and ideas refracted though a single lens. Thanks to a sterling cast, and plenty of disturbing moments and scares, CUCKOO is a striking entry in the recent wave of elevated horror filmmaking." RSVP here Date and time: Sunday, July 20th at 11:00am – 12:00pm PT, 2:00pm – 3:00pm ET, 8:00pm – 9:00pm CET.
Hosted by Jim Kolmar KINO! FILM SALON is a production by Telescope Film, in collaboration with the German Film Office Trailer here | |
| Episode 81 - July 10, 2025:
Books & musicals? Check. Reenacting TITANIC and waiting for the film adaptation of 22 BAHNEN? Check. The pleasure of taking an afternoon nap? Check. In our episode with actor Jannik Schümann we covered a lot of great topics and laughed a lot. Episode 82 - July 31, 2025:
What a terrific episode! Ingeborg Bachmann and Heinrich von Kleist as secret obsessions, the comfort of simple but classic spaghetti with tomato sauce, and going all in on acting without a Plan B – actress and director Malaya Stern Takeda brought a lot of fun and passion to our talk. You can find all of the episodes on our website and wherever podcasts are available. SHORT TAKE on Instagram! | |
| Episode 4 - July 15, 2025:
Back for a second stint with us and fresh from the Oscar® -Nomination for September 5 we talk to writer Moritz Binder about his writing process (hint: he’s not a solitary writer), how sometimes getting rid of dialogue can make a scene, and the creative through-line of his projects (possibly Munich, just kidding – but also not). You can find all of the episodes on our website and wherever podcasts are available. DEEP DIVE GENRE on Instagram! | |
| The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences® invites 534 new members
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is extending invitations to join the organization to 487 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to motion pictures. The way into the Academy is via an Oscar nomination or other special achievements in film. Among those invited are German Casting Director An Dorthe Braker, writer-director Emily Atef, costume designer Frauke Firl, composer Lorenz Dangel, production designer Julian R. Wagner, production designer Marco Bittner Rossner and VFX expert Oliver Schulz. Calls for Submission - DOK Preview Germany: German Films Service + Marketing GmbH and DOK Leipzig look for the most exciting new German documentary projects. DOK Preview Germany is a presentation platform for German productions, newly completed or in their final stages, with an estimated release date in winter/spring 25/26. DOK Preview Germany will take place on October 27, 2025 as part of DOK Leipzig and DOK Industry. Deadline is September 4, 2025. More information can be found on DOK Leipzig’s website. If you have questions, please contact Lennart Johannsen, Coordinator DOK Preview Germany: preview@dok-leipzig.de.
- MIA Film Work in Progress: The C EU Soon showcase is open to European films (European majoritarian and minoritarian co-productions) in an advanced stage of production or post-production, and looking for distribution and international distribution. Selected films will compete for the Screen International Award: special press coverage by Screen International. Deadline is July 16, 2025. More information und guidelines can be found here.
- Les Arcs Industry Village: The Coproduction Village will gather a selection of 18 European projects in development seeking coproducers and sales agents. The selected projects will compete for the € 20,000 Eurimages Co-Production Development Award and for the € 6,000 ArteKino International Award. Deadline is July 29, 2025, 7pm CEST. More information und guidelines can be found here.
- European Work in Progress Hamburg 2025: European Work in Progress Hamburg (EWIP) will be held for the first time in Hamburg from September 29 to October 1, 2025, in collaboration with Filmfest Hamburg Industry, the MOIN Film Fund Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, and with the support of the Creative Europe MEDIA Programme. The Call for Entries is now officially open. Eligible for submission are European productions or co-productions involving at least one European country, currently in principal photography, post-production, or any late production stage. Deadline is August 14, 2025. More information und guidelines can be found here.
Applications for Part-time Master's Programme - European Film Business and Law LL.M. | MBA
The European Film Business and Law LL.M. | MBA executive master's programme equips professionals and executives in the film and TV industry with the skills and tools they need to meet these challenges and ensure the sustainable development of their businesses and the overall dynamic growth of the market in Europe. Application deadline is July 31, 2025. More information und guidelines can be found here. German Project VATERLAND wins European Short Pitch Award 2025
Organised by P.O.V. Push Other Visions, the European Short Pitch has been supporting the development of short film projects, young talents and European co-productions since 2007. For the 18th edition in 2025, twelve projects in development and four works-in-progress were selected. After several workshops and training sessions, the projects were presented for the first time in cooperation with the Leiden Shorts festival from 2-3 June and online from 5-6 June. The German-Indonesian project VATERLAND was presented by Berthold Wahjudi (director) and producers Jonas Egert and Sylvain Cruiziat and was awarded the main prize, the European Short Pitch Award, by the jury. More information about VATERLAND can be found here. Among previous German-international projects presented at the European Short Pitches are recent festival successes DUTY FREE by Hilke Rönnfeldt and MY BROTHER, MY BROTHER by Abdelrahman Dnewar & Saad Dnewar. German Director Franz Böhm wins the Sony Future Filmmaker Award 2025
Following a 4-day industry immersion program in Culver City, the winners of the Sony Future Filmmaker Award 2025 were announced on June 5, 2025. German director Franz Böhm received the main award in the student category for his short film ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS, his graduation short at the National Film and Television School. A total of 11,750 films from 158 countries had been submitted for the awards in the categories fiction, non-fiction, animation and student. More info can be found here. | |
| German productions and co-productions at Huesca, Budapest, Grimstad, Shanghai, Tribeca, Palm Springs, Valencia, Zagreb, Cluj, Karlovy Vary, and Villa do Conde. | |
| Awards for German productions and co-productions at Vienna, Zagreb, Grimstad, Shanghai and Cluj. | |
| International releases of German films in July 2025 supported by the German Films Distribution Support program: A GIRL NAMED WILLOW in Slovakia (Distributor: Forum Film Slovakia, World Sales: Sola Media, Theatrical Release: July 3, 2025, Grant: 8.000 €)
A GIRL NAMED WILLOW in Czech Republic (Distributor: Forum Film Czech, World Sales: Sola Media, Theatrical Release: July 3, 2025, Grant: 10.000 €)
DYING in UK and Ireland (Distributor: Picturehouse Entertainment, World Sales: The Match Factory, Theatrical Release: July 25, 2025, Grant: 6,500 €)
DYING in Italy (Distributor: Satine Film, World Sales: The Match Factory, Theatrical Release: July 2025, Grant: 15.000 €)
EVERY YOU EVERY ME in Ukraine (Distributor: AT Films LLC, World Sales: Be for Films, Theatrical Release: July 24, 2025, Grant: 1,500 €)
ELBOW in Turkey (Distributor: Mars Production, World Sales: Arthood Entertainment, Theatrical Release: July 7, 23, 2025, Grant: 3.000 €)
GERMAINE ACOGNY - THE ESSENCE OF DANCE in France (Distributor: Shellac, World Sales: Autlook Filmsales, Theatrical Release: July 16, 2025, Grant: 8.000 €)
GONDOLA in Norway (Distributor: AS Fidalgo, World Sales: Coccinelle Film Sales, Theatrical Release: July 25, 2025, Grant: 2,000 €)
ISLANDS in France (Distributor: Jour2Fête, World Sales: Protagonist Pictures, Theatrical Release: July 2, 2025, Grant: 14,500 €)
KÖLN 75 in Poland (Distributor: Madness Distribution, World Sales: Bankside Films, Theatrical Release: July 11, 2025, Grant: 10.000 €)
KÖLN 75 in Spain (Distributor: Selectavision, World Sales: Bankside Films, Theatrical Release: July 11, 2025, Grant: 4,500 €)
THE SCHOOL OF MAGICAL ANIMALS 3 in Denmark (Distributor: Another World Entertainment, World Sales: Epsilon Film, Theatrical Release: July 10, 2025, Grant: 10.000 €)
THE CHAOS SISTERS FEAT. PENGUIN PAUL in Croatia (Distributor: Radar, World Sales: The Playmaker Munich, Theatrical Release: July 24, 2025, Grant: 2,500 €)
THE DOOR-TO-DOOR BOOKSTORE in Ukraine (Distributor: AT Films LLC, World Sales: Studiocanal, Theatrical Release: July 3, 2025, Grant: 1,500 €)
TWO TO ONE in Netherlands (Distributor: Cherry Pickers Filmdistributie BV, World Sales: The Playmaker Munich, Theatrical Release: July 24, 2025, Grant: 2,500 €)
TWO TO ONE in Belgium and Luxembourg (Distributor: Cherry Pickers Filmdistributie Belgie BV, World Sales: The Playmaker Munich, Theatrical Release: July 30, 2025, Grant: 2,000 €)
WHAT MARIELLE KNOWS in Turkey (Distributor: Yeni Bir Film, World Sales: Lucky Number, Theatrical Release: July 25, 2025, Grant: 2,500 €) Please note: Correct at time of going to press. Changes may occur at any time. | |
| Contact:
Angela Sonntag (Head of Press & Public Relations) | |
| German Films Service + Marketing GmbH
Herzog-Wilhelm-Straße 16
80331 München/Deutschland Tel +49-89-59 97 87-0
Fax +49-89-59 97 87-30 | |
| |
|
