Situated in Northwest Germany, the Oldenburg International Film Festival covers since 1994 the international movie scene in all of its aspects. This open minded approach leads to an inspiring mix of great premieres, surprising discoveries and original independent productions. Off beat innovation and ideas against the grain are the trademarks of the festival.
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 and Jerry Schatzberg 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 Takeshi Kitano’s Kids Return, Kevin Spacey’s Albino Alligator, Steven Soderbergh’s Out of Sight, David Cronenberg’s Spider, 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 celebrated German premiere in Oldenburg.
Tributes and Retrospectives
Tributes (by year)1994: Nancy Savoca1995: Katt Shea1996: (none)1997: Icíar Bollaín1989: Seymour Cassel1999: Asia Argento2000: Stacy Cochran2001: Ben Gazzara, Richard Stanley2002: Édouard Niermans2003: Larry Clark2004: Tim Blake Nelson2005: Luke Wilson and Andrew Wilson2006: Peter Fleischmann2007: Stacy Keach2008: Marius Müller-Westernhagen, Michael Wadleigh2009: Scott McGehee, David Siegel2010: Timothy Bottoms2011: Roger Fritz2012: (none)2013: Bobcat Goldthwait2014: (none)2015: Joanna Cassidy2016: Nicolas Cage, Amanda PlummerRetrospectives1994: Alex Cox1995: Frank Oz1996: James B. Harris1997: Tim Hunter1998: Roberto Faenza1999: Harry Kümel2000: William Wellman Jr.2001: Jim McBride2002: Bernard Rose2003: Philippe de Broca2004: Andrzej Żuławski2005: Ken Russell2006: Jerry Schatzberg2007: Abel Ferrara2008: James Toback2009: Bruno Barreto2010: Radley Metzger2011: Ted Kotcheff2012: Phedon Papamichael2013: Mania Akbari2014: Philippe Mora2015: George Armitage2016: Christophe Honoré1998: Richard Schenkman — Went to Coney Island on a Mission from God... Be Back by Five — USA, 19981999: Noah Stern — The Invisibles — USA, 19992001: Buket Alakuş — Anam — Germany, 20012002: Scott Thomas — Anacardium (Deranged) — USA, 20012003: Michael Polish — Northfork — USA, 20032004: Dennis Iliadis — Hardcore — Greece, 20032005: Marcos Siega — Pretty Persuasion — USA, 20052006: Scott Dacko — The Insurgents — USA, 20062007: Jan Hinrik Drevs — Underdogs — Germany, 2006/20072008: Emily Atef — The Stranger in Me (Das Fremde in mir) — Germany, 20082009: Judi Krant — Made in China — USA, 20092010: Paul Gordon — The Happy Poet — USA 20102011: K. Lorrel Manning — Happy New Year — USA, 20112012: Jan-Ole Gerster — Oh Boy — Germany, 20122013: David Perrault — Our Heroes Died Tonight (Nos heros sont morts ce soir) — France, 20132014: Michal Samir — Hany — Czech Republic, 20142015: Tom Sommerlatte — Summers Downstairs (Im Sommer wohnt er unten) — Germany/France, 20152016: Emre Konuk — The Apprentice (Çirak) — Turkey, 2016The 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, 20042005: Catharina Deus — About a Girl (Die Boxerin) — Germany, 20052006: Birgit Grosskopf — Princess (Prinzessin) — Germany, 20062007: Jakob Moritz Erwa — All the Invisible Things (Heile Welt) — Austria, 20062008: Emily Atef — The Stranger in Me (Das Fremde in mir) — Germany, 20082009: Thomas Sieben — Distance — Germany, 20092010: Philip Koch — Picco — Germany, 20102011: Linus de Paoli — Dr. Ketel — Germany, 20102012: Jan-Ole Gerster — Oh Boy — Germany, 20122013: Tom Lass — Kaptn Oskar — Germany, 20132014 + 2015 (not awarded because of budget cuts)2007: Marcos Valin, David Alonso — Atención al cliente (Customer Service) — Spain, 20072008: Liz Adams — Side Effect — USA, 20082009: 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, 20102011: Markus Engel — Der letzte Gast (The Last Guest) — Austria, 20112012: Meghna Gupta, Gigi Berardi — Unravel — United Kingdom / India, 20122013: Patrick Baumeister — Preis — Germany, 20132014: Kevin Meul — Cadet — Belgium, 20142015: Martijn de Jong — Free — Netherlands, 20142016: Ruken Tekes — The Circle (Hevêrk) — Turkey, 20162013: Mania Akbari, Bobcat Goldthwait2015: George Armitage, Joanna Cassidy2016: Nicolas Cage, Christophe Honoré, Amanda Plummer2007: Ben Reding, Dominik Reding — For The Unknown Dog (Für den unbekannten Hund) — Germany, 20052008: Emily Atef — The Stranger in Me (Das Fremde in mir) — Germany, 2008This 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 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)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)2016: André M. Hennicke for his role as Udo in Strawberry Bubblegums (Germany 2016)Because of the festival programme and its focus on independent filmmaking, press and industry professionals have dubbed the festival the “European/German Sundance”.
“One of the most offbeat festivals in Europe.” (Variety 2009)“Now in its 16th edition, Oldenburg proves that, justifying its reputation as Germany’s premiere indie fest by putting innovative filmmaking ahead of boxoffice glamour, while still filtering out the dregs of the low-budget scene.” (The Hollywood Reporter 2009)“Oldenburg: The German Sundance (…) has become a must in the festival circuit.” (Cannes Market News)“The German Sundance” (Screen International)