Press

One step further in the Oscar® race: İlker Çatak's Hamburg film "The Teachers' Lounge" has made it onto the shortlist in the category "Best International Film". Among the other candidates: The historical film "Kings Land" starring Mads Mikkelsen, which celebrated its German premiere at Filmfest Hamburg in autumn.

If you live in our region, work in the film industry AND consider yourself part of a marginalised group, then apply for one of the free EFM Market Badges + festival accreditations.

In its current meeting, the German-Turkish Co-Production Development Fund of MBB, MOIN Film Fund Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein and Istanbul Film Festival - Meetings on the Bridge is awarding almost 30,000 euros for the development of four new German-Turkish film projects.

Around 1.7 million euros were awarded to 31 projects by the Director's Cut Committee of the MOIN Film Fund at its current meeting - including the new film "Ficken für Freiheit" by Hille Norden from Schleswig-Holstein and the drama "5 Tage" by "Peterchens Mondfahrt" Director Ali Samadi Ahadi.

The Kurz + Innovativ Committee of the MOIN Film Fund awarded around 110,000 euros to four projects at its latest meeting. These include the short film "Lebensschulden" by Hamburg filmmaker Lena Hetzel about life in a youth detention centre and the VR experience "Golems" by Deborah and Dennis Reinmüller from Kiel.

A total of 16 cinema awards were presented by State Councillor for Culture Jana Schiedek last week at the Savoy cinema. The Zeise cinema, the 3001, the B-Movie and the Abaton were among this year's winners. A special prize went to the initiative "Flexibles Flimmern".

Berlinale premiere, film award winner and now German Oscar candidate: the film "The Teachers' Lounge", shot in Hamburg, is in the running for the foreign Oscar.

The 80th Venice International Film Festival kicks off at the end of August - and MOIN Film Fund will be there with six projects. These include the historical drama "King's Land" with Mads Mikkelsen in the international competition and the film "Yurt", produced by Red Balloon from Hamburg, in the Orizzonti competition section. Germany is this year's focus country at the film festival.

Positive results from the first GetOnSet year: around 85 per cent of the film trainees found their way into the film world through the programme - and there were more than 150 applications for the second GetOnSet round. The success of the Hamburg Media School and MOIN Film Fund initiative underlines the importance of promoting young talent in the film industry.

In Schleswig-Holstein's oldest cinema, the KinoCenter in Rendsburg, State Secretary for Culture Guido Wendt presented the state's cinema award today (21 June) and paid tribute to the state's cinema culture:

Three short, two immersive: At its current meeting, the "Kurz + Innovativ" Committee of the MOIN Film Fund supported five projects with around 140,000 euros. These include the animated film "Butterfly Kiss" from the Hamburg-based animation studio "Fabian&Fred" and the 270-degree experience "InHuman - A New World" about the creation and destruction of the rainforest.

The Hamburg Media School, MOIN Film Fund and the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg are jointly continuing the GetOnSet film trainee programme. Following the successful launch of the pilot project in 2022, the practical programme has proven to be an effective building block against the shortage of skilled workers in the film and series industry.

In its current meeting, the Director's Cut Committee of the MOIN Film Fund awarded more than 2.8 million euros to 27 projects - including the series "Schwarze Früchte" by showrunner and actor Lamin Leroy Gibba and the drama "Der Optimismus" by Hamburg filmmaker Steffen Goldkamp - both projects will be produced entirely in the funding region in the summer of 2023.

Two MOIN-funded films will be represented at the 76th Cannes International Film Festival this year: Turkish Director Nuri Bilge Ceylan's "About Dry Grasses" has made it into the official competition, while Faouzi Bensaïdi's film "Déserts" is screening in the "Quinzaine des Cinéastes" section. Also taking part: up-and-coming Hamburg actress Pauline Pollmann and Kiel-based short filmmaker Eugenia Bakurin.

Malika Rabahallah will take over the management of FILMFEST HAMBURG from 1 January 2024. The Executive Producer and long-time head of the funding department of MOIN Film Fund will succeed Albert Wiederspiel, who will leave FILMFEST at the end of 2023 after twenty successful years as festival director.

On 21 April, four productions with North German participation will be awarded the Grimme Prize: "Atomkraft Forever" by Hamburg filmmaker Carsten Rau, "The Other Side of the River" by Hamburg production company Doppelplusultra, the arthouse horror film "Schlaf" produced by Junafilm from Hamburg, and "Im Feuer - Zwei Schwestern" by Director and Script Writer Daphné Charizani.

In its first meeting of the year, the High End Committee of the MOIN Film Fund has supported four projects with around 950,000 euros - including the new animation adventure "Seeräubermoses" by Hamburg-based Ulysses Films ("The Amazing Maurice"). In addition, the Nordbuster Committee is awarding more than 850,000 euros to Wüste Film for the tragicomedy "Drift" by Director Florian Dietrich, who will shoot his new film almost entirely in Hamburg following his surprise success "Toubab".

On the first Saturday of the Berlinale (18 February), the Hamburg film industry met for Tea Time at the Hamburg State Representation on the Spree. Directors Fatih Akin and "Rheingold" lead actor Emilio Sakraya as well as the "Mittagsstunde" team Charly Hübner and Lars Jessen were among those in attendance.

How diverse is the German film industry really? Despite important studies and surveys, there are gaps in the available data. The MOIN Film Fund wants to change this and is therefore cooperating with the Australian "The Everyone Project" with immediate effect. A pilot of the new "OMNI Inclusion" platform is to be launched across Germany in 2023 with the help of industry representatives.

When the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival takes place this year from 16-26 February, eight MOIN-funded productions will be screened in the capital - six of them as world premieres. They include "The Measures of Men" by Lars Kraume, Ayşe Polat's "In the Blind Spot" and the drama "The Teachers' Lounge" by İlker Çatak, which was shot in Hamburg.

The Hamburg-based production company Ulysses Films will be showing its animated film "The Amazing Maurice the Cat" at the renowned Sundance Film Festival in the USA from 19 January. The Terry Pratchett adaptation will be one of only three films to be shown in the children's section. Bastian Pastewka lends his voice to the orange-coloured street cat in the German version - cinema release is 9 February 2023.

From February 2023, Nicola Jones will take over as head of the Schleswig-Holstein location of MOIN Film Fund. The former CEO of the German Children's Media Festival "Goldener Spatz" will succeed Arne Sommer, who has successfully managed the Filmwerkstatt since 2014 and has left the company at his own request.

We are looking for a new director for Filmfest Hamburg as of 1 January 2024 - applications are open now and can be submitted until 8 January 2023.

In its autumn round, the Kurz + Innovativ Committee of the MOIN Film Fund is supporting six projects with over 150,000 euros. Among them: a short film adventure with animals in space animated entirely in Hamburg and a VR horror experience.

From 2 to 6 November, 14 MOIN-funded productions will be shown on the big screen at the 64th Nordic Film Days in Lübeck - including the multi-award-winning drama "Aus meiner Haut", the short film "Kalb" shot in Schleswig-Holstein and Pepe Danquart's documentary about the artist Daniel Richter.

In its current meeting, the Director's Cut Committee of the MOIN Film Fund awarded around 1.7 million euros to 21 projects - including the children's book adaptation "Greetings from Mars" with over 30 days of filming in the north and the new Nordlichter series by the Belton brothers from Hamburg.

Are you at home in the world of immersive media and looking for a new challenge in the North German film and culture scene? Then join our team! We are currently looking for a\*project coordinator\*for immersive media at our company headquarters in Kiel.

The twelfth Schleswig-Holstein Cinema Prize was awarded at the Astra-Filmtheater Plön on Tuesday evening.

Three reasons for series fans to rejoice: Fahri Yardim and Henriette Confurius are filming a new thriller series in the north. The first two Filmfest Hamburg series will premiere at the Filmfest Hamburg - and the film funding can also bring exciting series to the Hanseatic city in the future, as Senator for Culture Dr Carsten Brosda announced on the set of "Die Quellen des Bösen" by Hamburg production company Wüste Medien.

A total of seven MOIN-funded films will be screened at this year's Toronto International Film Festival from 8 to 18 September. In addition to the premieres of the two international co-productions "War Sailor" and "Snow and the Bear", the North German short film "Beben" has also made it into the programme.

The Venice International Film Festival begins on 31 August and a large part of the programme has now been announced. Included: the drama "Victim" with Hamburg leading actress Vita Smachelyuk in the Orizzonti section as well as the film "Aus meiner Haut" with Jonas Dassler and Mala Emde, which was shot entirely in Schleswig-Holstein and will be shown in the "International Film Critics' Week".

In its June edition, the Director's Cut Committee of the MOIN Film Fund supported 14 projects with around 800,000 euros - including a drama about an exiled author on a North Sea island and a documentary about the Hamburg jack-of-all-trades Dietrich Kuhlbrodt.

A celebration on the longest day of the year: MOIN Film Fund celebrated its annual industry get-together at Kampnagel on Tuesday evening with around 1000 guests from film and TV, culture and politics. Among the guests were Otto Waalkes, Jonas Nay, Pheline Roggan, Charly Hübner and the cult band Scooter.

In its latest meeting, the High End Committee of the MOIN Film Fund supported ten projects with around 800,000 euros. Among them: the sequel to the true crime series "Reeperbahn Special Unit 65", a family film about four chaotic sisters and a documentary about the Vendée Globe regatta centred around Hamburg's Boris Herrmann. More than 550,000 euros will also go to four productions from the Nordbuster committee, including an animal-themed Schleswig-Holstein project.

Small but mighty: the Kurz + Innovativ Committee of the MOIN Film Fund has awarded 125,000 euros in funding to three short films at its latest meeting. Schleswig-Holstein filmmaker Hilke Rönnfeldt's "Duty Free" takes us to a floating sales container on the Baltic Sea, while Hamburg-based animation company Telescope tells the story of an old lady and her dragon.

Are you at home in the world of numbers, balance sheets and accounts and looking for a new challenge in the North German film and culture scene? Then join our team! At our company headquarters in Hamburg-Ottensen (with home office option) we are looking for a\*financial accountant\*in as of 01.10.2022.

The Hamburg Media School, MOIN Film Fund and the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg are launching a joint pilot project in May to combat the shortage of skilled workers in the film and series sector. The practical, 12-month trainee programme "GetOnSet" is designed to prepare career changers for professions such as unit manager, Sound Assistants or assistant directors.

"Pacifiction - Tourment sur les Îles" is another film with Hamburg participation in the Cannes competition. Executive Producer of the film: the Hamburg company Tamtam Film ("Some had crocodiles"). In the "Un Certain Regard" section, the new film by Emily Atef ("3 Days in Quiberon") can also celebrate its world premiere.

A portrait of the Hamburg cult band Tocotronic and the new film by "Manche hatten Krokodile"-Director Christian Hornung about the Hamburg Sternbrücke: The Director's Cut committee of the MOIN Film Fund has awarded around 1.2 million euros to 29 projects - including ten documentaries that received production funding.

Sustainability has played a central role at MOIN Film Fund for more than ten years. With immediate effect, the company now also fulfils the criteria of the German Sustainability Code, thereby demonstrating its commitment: The requirements for the film industry apply just as much in-house.

Multiple national and regional funding organisations are often involved in the funding of film and series projects in Germany. A standardised review process is now being planned.

In the first funding session of the year, the High End Committee of the MOIN Film Fund awarded around 2.5 million euros to 14 projects. A total of 1.2 million euros will go to six series productions from the north of Germany. The series highlights include a crime drama starring Fahri Yardim and an end-time drama set on Helgoland.

The Kurz + Innovativ Committee of the MOIN Film Fund met just before the turn of the year. The result is six projects with around 130,000 euros in Fundings. These include a rural coming-of-age story by Friedrich Tiedtke from Schleswig-Holstein and an animal-political VR experience by Hamburg-based animation studio Fabian&Fred.

In the last High End session of the year, the MOIN Film Fund awarded around 800,000 euros to five projects. These include the psychological thriller "The Tutor", which was shot entirely in Film-Norden, and the animated adventure "Seeräubermoses", based on the novel by Hamburg's honorary citizen Kirsten Boie.

First Locarno, now short film LOLA: On Thursday evening, HFBK graduate Nicolaas Schmidt was honoured with the German Short Film Award for his film "First Time (The Time For All But Sunset - Violet)". The film has already celebrated its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival.

The German-Russian documentary film festival "Territorium Film" celebrates its tenth anniversary edition this Friday. The opening ceremony will take place via livestream in parallel in the plenary hall of the Schleswig-Holstein State Parliament and at the festival venue in Kaliningrad. Since it was founded in 2011, the film festival can look back on around 90 films screened, 140 film guests and more than 20,000 visitors.

In its third meeting of the year, the "Kurz + Innovativ" Committee of the MOIN Film Fund is supporting five projects with a total of around 100,000 euros - including the new short film by HFBK graduate Leonie Kellein and an immersive journey to the Amazon region.

A total of eleven coveted LOLAS went to the north of Germany at the German Film Awards Distribution on Friday evening - including the LOLA in Gold to the Letterbox production "Ich bin Dein Mensch" and the LOLA in Bronze to the MOIN-funded political satire "Curveball".

From 30 September to 9 October 2021, Filmfest Hamburg invites you to the city's cinemas for the 29th time. The festival selection includes several North German productions that have already impressed at international festivals. These include the recent Locarno winners "No One's with the Calves" by Sabrina Sarabi and "Vengeance is Mine, All Others Pay Cash" by Edwin.