The Oldenburg International Film Festival , sometimes named as the European Sundance ,[1] has covered the international movie scene in all aspects since 1994. It is held in Oldenburg , Germany. Its open-minded approach leads to a mixture of movie premieres and original independent productions. Innovation and contrarian ideas are some features of the festival.
The festival logo
Rated among the top 5 Film Festivals worldwide for Independent Films by American film critic Chris Gore in his esteemed 'Ultimate Film Festival Guide', and ranked »Top 25 Coolest Festivals in the World« by MovieMaker, Oldenburg has fostered its success with a strong commitment to innovative and independent filmmaking.
Among the guests of honor were Alex Cox , Frank Oz , James B. Harris , Tim Hunter , Belgian cult director Harry Kümel , Jim McBride , Philippe de Broca , Andrzej Żuławski , Ken Russell , Jerry Schatzberg and Ovidio G. Assonitis who have all attended the festival for the retrospectives of their work. Icíar Bollaín , Seymour Cassel , Asia Argento , Stacy Cochran , Richard Stanley , Ben Gazzara , Larry Clark , Tim Blake Nelson as well as Luke and Andrew Wilson have attended the festival for tributes in their honor.
Internationally acclaimed films, such as Park Chan-wook ’s The Handmaiden , Takeshi Kitano ’s Kids Return , David Cronenberg ’s Spider , Kevin Spacey ’s Albino Alligator , Steven Soderbergh ’s Out of Sight , Larry Clark ’s Ken Park , Luke and Andrew Wilson ’s The Wendell Baker Story , and The Fountain by Darren Aronofsky or indie hits like Larry Fessenden ’s Habit , Cory McAbee ’s The American Astronaut , Michael Polish ’s Northfork , Paul Provenza ’s The Aristocrats , Susan Buice and Arin Crumley ’s Four Eyed Monsters or The Guatemalan Handshake by Todd Rohal , received their German premiere in Oldenburg.
Tributes (by year)
Retrospectives
German Independence Award: Best Film (Audience Award)
1998: Richard Schenkman — Went to Coney Island on a Mission from God... Be Back by Five — USA, 1998
1999: Noah Stern — The Invisibles — USA, 1999
2001: Buket Alakuş — Anam — Germany, 2001
2002: Scott Thomas — Anacardium (Deranged) ) — USA, 2001
2003: Michael Polish — Northfork — USA, 2003
2004: Dennis Iliadis — Hardcore — Greece, 2003
2005: Marcos Siega — Pretty Persuasion — USA, 2005
2006: Scott Dacko — The Insurgents — USA, 2006
2007: Jan Hinrik Drevs — Underdogs — Germany, 2006/2007
2008: Emily Atef — The Stranger in Me [ de ] (Das Fremde in mir ) — Germany, 2008
2009: Judi Krant — Made in China — USA, 2009
2010: Paul Gordon — The Happy Poet — USA 2010
2011: K. Lorrel Manning — Happy New Year — USA, 2011
2012: Jan-Ole Gerster — A Coffee in Berlin (Oh Boy ) — Germany, 2012
2013: David Perrault — Our Heroes Died Tonight (Nos heros sont morts ce soir ) — France, 2013
2014: Michal Samir — Hany — Czech Republic, 2014
2015: Tom Sommerlatte — Summers Downstairs [ de ] (Im Sommer wohnt er unten ) — Germany/France, 2015
2016: Emre Konuk — The Apprentice (Çirak ) — Turkey, 2016
2017: Kubilay Sarikaya and Sedat Kirtan — Familiye — Germany, 2017
2018: Mikhal Raskhodnikov — Vremennye trudnosti — Russia, 2018
2019: Adam VillaSeñor and Reza Ghassemi — In Full Bloom — USA/JAPAN, 2020
2020: Miles Hargrove — Miracle Fishing — USA
2021: Scott Monahan — Anchorage — USA
2022: John Connors — The Black Guelph — Ireland
2023: Ayşe Polat — In the Blind Spot — Germany
2024: Max Train — James — Canada
German Independence Award: Best German Film
The Best German Film award is juried by an international panel of five—filmmakers, actors, artists, writers, producers—of which at least three members come from other countries than Germany. The films are shown in original version with English subtitles. Jury members have been, e.g., in 2011: Matteo Lovadina, Radley Metzger , Ildi Toth Davy, Soopum Sohn, and Matthew Modine . The 2012 festival saw an all-woman jury, consisting of Tamar Simon Hoffs , Gabrielle Miller , Lana Morgan, Debbie Rochon , and Mira Sorvino .
2004: Andreas Struck — Sugar Orange — Germany, 2004
2005: Catharina Deus — About a Girl (Die Boxerin ) — Germany, 2005
2006: Birgit Grosskopf — Princess (Prinzessin ) — Germany, 2006
2007: Jakob Moritz Erwa — All the Invisible Things (Heile Welt ) — Austria, 2006
2008: Emily Atef — The Stranger in Me (Das Fremde in mir ) — Germany, 2008
2009: Thomas Sieben — Distance — Germany, 2009
2010: Philip Koch [ de ] — Picco — Germany, 2010
2011: Linus de Paoli — Dr. Ketel — Germany, 2010
2012: Jan-Ole Gerster — A Coffee in Berlin (Oh Boy ) — Germany, 2012
2013: Tom Lass — Kaptn Oskar — Germany, 2013
not awarded since 2014 due to budget cuts
German Independence Award: Best Short Film
2007: Marcos Valin, David Alonso — Atención al cliente (Customer Service ) — Spain, 2007
2008: Liz Adams — Side Effect — USA, 2008
2009: Hassan Said — Mute — USA, 2009 (Best foreign-language short film)
2009: Tom Bewilogua — SCISSU — Germany, 2009 (Best German-language short film)
2010: Jeremy Bradley, Reuben Sack — Salvation Insurance — USA, 2010
2011: Markus Engel — Der letzte Gast (The Last Guest ) — Austria, 2011
2012: Meghna Gupta, Gigi Berardi — Unravel — United Kingdom / India, 2012
2013: Patrick Baumeister — Preis — Germany, 2013
2014: Kevin Meul — Cadet — Belgium, 2014
2015: Martijn de Jong — Free — Netherlands, 2014
2016: Ruken Tekes — The Circle (Hevêrk ) — Turkey, 2016
2017: Thierry Bessling, Loïc Tanson — Sur le fil — Luxembourg, 2017
2018: Jeremy Comte — Fauve — Canada, 2018
2019: Kahina Le Querrec — Blue Hour — France, 2019
2020: Igor Nevedrov — The Coat — Russia, 2020
2021: Lucas Camps — Wall#4 — Netherlands, 2021
2022: Samuel Bereuther — Jockstrap Jesus — Germany, 2022
2023: María Monreal — When Grass Grows — Spain, 2022
2024: Diego Gaxiola — Nostalgia of a (Still) Alive Heart — Mexico, 2024
German Independence Honorary Award
2013: Mania Akbari , Bobcat Goldthwait
2014: Philippe Mora
2015: George Armitage , Joanna Cassidy
2016: Nicolas Cage , Christophe Honoré , Amanda Plummer
2017: Edward R. Pressman , Lou Diamond Phillips
2018: Bruce Robinson , Keith Carradine
2019: Burkhard Driest
2020: William Friedkin
2021: Ovidio G. Assonitis , Mattie Do
2022: Peter Hyams , John Hyams , Andrea Rau
2023: Isild Le Besco , Jen Gatien
2024: Dominik Graf , Na Gyi , Paing Phyo Thu
Hans Ohlms Award for Best First Feature Film
Since 2023, the Hans Ohlms Award for Best First Feature Film is awarded in conjunction with the Hans Ohlms Foundation.
2023: Takayuki Hayashi — From Dawn Till Noon On The Sea — Japan
2024: Michael J. Long — Baby Brother — UK
Otto Sprenger Award
2007: Ben Reding, Dominik Reding — For The Unknown Dog (Für den unbekannten Hund ) — Germany, 2005
2008: Emily Atef — The Stranger in Me (Das Fremde in mir ) — Germany, 2008
This actor’s prize is awarded for performances in films nominated for the Best German Film award.
2012: Tom Schilling for his role as Niko Fischer in A Coffee in Berlin (Oh Boy ) — Germany, 2012
2013: Martina Schöne-Radunski for her role as Alex in Kaptn Oskar — Germany, 2013
2014: Victoria Schulz [ de ] for her role as Ruby in Rough Road Ahead [ de ] (Von jetzt an kein Zurück ) — Germany, 2014
2015:
2016:
Noémie Merlant for her role as Claire in Twisting Fate (À tous les vents du ciel ) — France, 2016
André M. Hennicke for his role as Udo in Strawberry Bubblegums — Germany, 2016
2017:
Lindsay Burdge for her performance in Thirst Street — USA, France 2017
Gregory Kasyan for his role as Mills in Quest — USA, 2017
2018:
Victoria Carmen Sonne for her role as Sascha in Holiday — Denmark, 2018
Gabriela Ramos for her role as Lili in Is that you? — UK, 2018
2019:
Patrycja Planik for her performance in Lillian — Austria, 2019
Zachary Ray Sherman in Cuck — USA, 2019
2020:
2021:
Eaindra Kyaw Zin for her performance in What happened to the Wolf — Myanmar, 2021
Dakota Loesch in Anchorage — USA, 2021
2022:
Cyndie Lundy for her performance in Parsley — Dominican Republic, 2022
Graham Earley in The Black Guelph — Ireland, 2022
2023:
Alexandrea Meyer for her performance in Beautiful Friend — USA, 2023
Jon Jacobs in Passenger C — USA, 2023
2024:
Aki Kigoshi for her performance in A Wasted Night — Japan, 2024
Tim Blake Nelson for his performance in Bang Bang — USA, 2024