25. - 29. November 2025

Black Forest Film Festival – The new film festival in Freiburg im Breisgau and the surrounding region – for filmmakers, creatives, and cinema enthusiasts

Between Memory and Imagination – Stories that Connect

Welcome to the Black Forest Film Festival – the new hub for film and compelling storytelling in the heart of Europe. From 25 to 29 November 2025, Freiburg im Breisgau and the surrounding area will transform into an international meeting point for filmmakers, screenwriters, industry professionals, and passionate film lovers.

Alongside a carefully curated selection of recent international films shown in the most beautiful cinemas of Freiburg and Emmendingen, the festival offers a diverse supporting programme featuring expert panels, film talks, and numerous opportunities for creative exchange. At the heart of the festival is the Story Market, where film ideas and original concepts are presented and developed collaboratively.

The Black Forest Film Festival focuses on the unique interplay between fairy tales and fantastical narratives, and stories rooted in real life – stories that move us and reveal what connects us all.

Margarethe von Trotta Retrospective

Patron of the Black Forest Film Festival

As patron of the first Black Forest Film Festival, we are proud to honour Margarethe von Trotta with a retrospective of her work. Widely regarded as one of the most influential voices in European auteur cinema, von Trotta’s films combine the personal, the political and the historical with striking clarity and depth. Her work explores themes such as memory, resistance, identity and responsibility – often against the backdrop of major historical change.

From The German Sisters to Rosa Luxemburg and Hannah Arendt, her films invite audiences into complex emotional and intellectual spaces, while remaining true to an independent artistic vision. This retrospective is an invitation to (re)discover the cinema of a filmmaker whose perspective continues to resonate powerfully today.

The Story Market

A treasure trove of powerful stories

The Story Market is the creative heart of the festival – a true treasure chest filled with stories waiting to be brought to life on screen. Alongside biographical texts, literature, and original material, special attention is given to diaries from the past three centuries – authentic, unfiltered testimonies of their time. These are presented in cooperation with the German Diary Archive.

To open the programme, the Story Market focuses on a theme that speaks to us all:

"Disconnected – and Full of Possibilities. Between Alienation and New Perspectives."

It features stories that explore feelings of being a stranger, inner disconnection, and personal upheaval – and the potential to develop new ways of seeing and understanding.

Industry professionals from film and media gain exclusive access to national and international materials with strong potential for adaptation and development.

Pitching Sessions

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Diaries

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Biographical material

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Literary material

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Original fiction material

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Original fantasy material

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Emerging talents 

Programme and Competition

German premieres, cinematic discoveries and unforgettable film moments

The Black Forest Film Festival presents a diverse selection of German premieres and cinematic discoveries from Germany and around the world, alongside landmark works of film history. At the heart of the competition are current feature-length and short films by both emerging voices and established filmmakers. The programme is further enriched by a retrospective, thematic strands, special screenings, and in-depth conversations with the creative minds behind the films.

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Feature Film

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Short Film

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Retrospective

Complementary Programme

Industry insights, film talks, audience dialogues and keynotes

The complementary programme of the Black Forest Film Festival creates space for exchange, in-depth discussion, and fresh perspectives. Through conversations with filmmakers, engaging keynotes and practice-oriented panels, creatives, industry professionals and audiences come together in dialogue. Topics range from current questions of filmmaking and pressing social issues to the evolving art of storytelling.

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Industry Events

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Film Talks

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Special Formats

Festivalorganisation

Anna-Katharina Gerson

Anna-Katharina Gerson

Anna-Katharina Gerson ist Kunst- und Filmhistorikerin mit über 25 Jahren Erfahrung im europäischen Kultur- und Medienbereich. Sie war über zehn Jahre Programm- und Festivalleiterin des B3 Festivals des bewegten Bildes in Frankfurt – sowohl kuratorisch als auch organisatorisch – und konzipierte davor den Film- und Medienbereich der Frankfurter Buchmesse.

Ihr Schwerpunkt liegt auf crossmedialen Formaten an den Schnittstellen von Film, Literatur, Kunst sowie immersiven Technologien wie Virtual Reality und Künstlicher Intelligenz. Sie verfügt über langjährige Zusammenarbeit mit nationalen und internationalen Institutionen – von der Berlinale bis Creative Europe, von Filmförderungen über Kulturstiftungen bis zu Landesministerien. Geprägt wurde ihr Blick für narrative Formen und kulturelle Entwicklungen nicht zuletzt durch ihre Herkunft aus einer Kinofamilie im Schwarzwald.

gerson@blackforestfilmfest.com
Cornelia Hammelmann

Cornelia Hammelmann

Cornelia Hammelmann has been active in the European film and media industry for over 30 years. After working in various film and television productions both in Germany and abroad, she became the Managing Director of the former MEDIA Desk Hamburg, and later served as Project Manager of the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF). In this role, she was involved in numerous international projects, including Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel and Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies.

As a recognised networker, she brings in-depth experience in script consulting, text development, moderation, and entrepreneurial project work.She is a member of the European Film Academy and an advisor to the Ischia Film Festival.

hammelmann@blackforestfilmfest.com

Team

Birgit Karus

Birgit Karus

Social Media Advisor · Design
NOH Production

Design
NOH Production
Ea Rist

Ea Rist

Social Media Advisor · Design
NOH Production

Design
NOH Production
Sascha Nau

Sascha Nau

Sascha Nau Design · Webdevelopment


SNAU

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