Oldenburg International Film Festival



The Oldenburg International Film Festival, sometimes named as the European Sundance, 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.

History
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 and retrospectives

 * Tributes (by year)
 * 1994: Nancy Savoca
 * 1995: Katt Shea
 * 1996: (none)
 * 1997: Icíar Bollaín
 * 1989: Seymour Cassel
 * 1999: Asia Argento
 * 2000: Stacy Cochran
 * 2001: Ben Gazzara, Richard Stanley
 * 2002: Édouard Niermans
 * 2003: Larry Clark
 * 2004: Tim Blake Nelson
 * 2005: Luke Wilson, Andrew Wilson
 * 2006: Peter Fleischmann
 * 2007: Stacy Keach
 * 2008: Marius Müller-Westernhagen, Michael Wadleigh
 * 2009: Scott McGehee, David Siegel
 * 2010: Timothy Bottoms
 * 2011: Roger Fritz
 * 2012: (none)
 * 2013: Bobcat Goldthwait
 * 2014: (none)
 * 2015: Joanna Cassidy
 * 2016: Nicolas Cage, Amanda Plummer
 * 2017: Lou Diamond Phillips
 * 2018: Keith Carradine
 * 2019: Seymour Cassel
 * 2020: (none)
 * 2021: Mattie Do
 * 2022: Andrea Rau
 * 2023: Isild Le Besco, Jen Gatien


 * Retrospectives
 * 1994: Alex Cox
 * 1995: Frank Oz
 * 1996: James B. Harris
 * 1997: Tim Hunter
 * 1998: Roberto Faenza
 * 1999: Harry Kümel
 * 2000: William Wellman Jr.
 * 2001: Jim McBride
 * 2002: Bernard Rose
 * 2003: Philippe de Broca
 * 2004: Andrzej Żuławski
 * 2005: Ken Russell
 * 2006: Jerry Schatzberg
 * 2007: Abel Ferrara
 * 2008: James Toback
 * 2009: Bruno Barreto
 * 2010: Radley Metzger
 * 2011: Ted Kotcheff
 * 2012: Phedon Papamichael
 * 2013: Mania Akbari
 * 2014: Philippe Mora
 * 2015: George Armitage
 * 2016: Christophe Honoré
 * 2017: Edward R. Pressman
 * 2018: Bruce Robinson
 * 2019: Burkhard Driest
 * 2020: William Friedkin
 * 2021: Ovidio G. Assonitis
 * 2022: Peter Hyams, John Hyams
 * 2023: (none)

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 (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 (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

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 (director) — 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

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

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

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

Seymour Cassel Award: Outstanding Performance
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 for her role as Ruby in Von jetzt an kein zurück — Germany, 2014
 * 2015:
 * Sarah Silverman for her role as Laney in I Smile Back — USA, 2015
 * Nikola Rakočević for his role as Slav in Travelator — Serbia, 2014
 * 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:
 * Paz de la Huerta for her performance in Puppy Love — USA, 2020
 * Daniel Aráoz in The Longest Night by Rob Lambert — Argentina, 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