19. LICHTER FILMFEST FRANKFURT INTERNATIONAL 28.04.-03.05.2026

The 19th LICHTER Filmfest will be a place where art is not only shown, but also conceived as a social force—a forum that explores the artistic possibilities of film and moving images. With its annual theme of “art,” the festival also brings together the leitmotifs of previous years: “change,” “freedom,” “love,” “future,” and “fear.” With over 20 international feature films, the festival will illuminate the annual theme of “art” from different perspectives and present it in a variety of ways.

The 6th Congress Future German Cinema focuses on film as an independent art form and an open field of experimentation. Discussions will explore how artistic practice is changing narratives, enabling new forms of storytelling, and giving cinema renewed relevance in a time of global upheaval.

With the Lichter Art Award, the festival also presents an exhibition featuring outstanding examples of video art —an independent discipline of the visual arts that also opens up new aesthetic horizons as an interface between cinematic and visual practice.