FIPRESCI Prize

One of the leading international festivals of East Central, South Eastern and Eastern European film and one of the most notable cultural events in the Berlin-Brandenburg metropolitan area, it targets both regular audiences and industry experts. The festival “territory” includes also Central Asisa, the Baltic and the Caucasian countries as well as Greece, Finland and Turkey. As the gateway to the East, Cottbus is located in close proximity to its Polish neighbour in the bilingual (German/Sorbian) region of Lausitz in the German state of Brandenburg. The festival showcases around 120 films from more than 40 coproduction countries, along with a number of workshops, masterclasses, film education activities, panel discussions, moderated Q&A sessions, workshops for school children and co-operation with universities. Our jury of three members will give its award to a film in the main competition.

The International Film Festival Mannheim-Heidelberg is the second oldest German film festival after the Berlinale. It celebrates innovation as well as narrative and aesthetic courage. It acts as a compass and a trend scout, discovering new talented directors and presenting visionaries, opening up horizons and revitalizing the historical. The IFFMH creates a social experience context. As a mediator and networker of different cultural scenes, the IFFMH creates spaces for exchange between filmmakers and audiences. Among the filmmakers who showed their early work in Mannheim-Heidelberg are François Truffaut, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Wim Wenders, Jim Jarmusch, Angela Schanelec, Atom Egoyan, Thomas Vinterberg, Derek Cianfrance, Hong Sang-soo, Nicolas Winding Refn, and Guillaume Nicloux. Our jury of three will award one films from The On The Rise competition, the core of the festival and a stage for outstanding directorial talent, featuring only first and second features.

The festival, in its 40th edition, remains the only Latin American film festival accredited by FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers Associations) as a top-tier competitive event – alongside Cannes, Berlin, Venice, San Sebastián, Locarno, Karlovy Vary, and Tokyo. It has long served as a launching pad for emerging Argentine and Latin American filmmakers. Additionally, the festival features special events such as master classes and roundtables. After being suspended in 1970, the festival was relaunched in 1996 and quickly regained its prominence as a major cultural event and a vital platform for Argentine cinema with both national and international reach. Traditionally organized by Argentina’s National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts (INCAA), the 40th edition will be jointly produced by INCAA and the Municipality of General Pueyrredón. Our three member jury – one Argentinian and two from Latin America – will award a film in the International Competition.