25th Munich International Festival of Film Schools (November 19 - 26).

From November 19 - 26, the Munich International Festival of Film Schools will be showcasing the best new films from young, upcoming directors from around the world. A selection committee has chosen the most interesting 54 films out of a total of over 250 submissions from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and North & South America. A day before the official competition begins, on November 19, the festival, in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut, will be screening the winners of the short film competition "Gestures of Reconciliation" in which film students were called upon to submit their ideas for films on the subject of reconciliation. The best treatments were then produced with the support of the Foundation "Gestures of Reconciliation". All of the 29 prizewinning films are world premieres.

The official opening of the festival is in the ARRI cinema on Sunday, November 20, with the episode film "Nine", directed by nine students from the Munich film school, the Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film.

The awards ceremony will take place on November 26 at 6 pm in the Gloria Palast. The eleven prizes worth a total of roughly € 50,000 include four new awards:


- König Ludwig Trophy (10 000 Euro), donated by His Royal Highness Prince Luitpold of Bavaria – a prize for the best Kaltenberg beer commercial in a special competition (www.koenig-ludwig.com/trophy)

- Prix Interculturel (5000 Euro), donated by the Munich Interfilm Academy. This award goes to the film that best fosters intercultural dialogue.
(www.interfilm-akademie.de)

- ARTE-Kurzfilmpreis (6000 Euro). Arte acquires the broadcast rights to the winning film.

- Jury Prize for the Best Documentary (2000 Euro): The winner receives a voucher for services and/or products from Arnold & Richter Cine Media at any of their branches worldwide.

Special Events:

- Jury President Catherine Breillat will present her prize-winning film "Á ma Soeur" on Tuesday, November 22, at 12 noon in the Filmmuseum and be there to discuss it afterwards. This screening is free of charge.


- Former festival participants (Detlev Buck, Jan Sverak, Caroline Link and others) will be on hand on Saturday, November 26, at 2pm in the festival center in the Filmmuseum for " Visions of the Visual", a panel discussion on the possibilities of focusing more on visual elements and film-as-language at film schools.

- Also on Saturday, November 26, at 11am in the Filmmuseum: 1981 – 2004 Award Winners' Showcase, a compilation of ten prizewinning films from the last 25 years that show developments at the festival in the last quarter century.

The members of this year's festival jury headed by French director Catherine Breillat are Rainer Gansera (journalist), Victoria Münnich (ARTE), Jan Schomburg (2004 prizewinner) and Quirin Berg (producer).


The complete program is available at our website - www.filmschoolfest-munich.de