Foretaste of the 37 Filmfest Dresden: Special Programmes focusing on “Let’s Stick Together!”


New Record: 3,400 Submissions / Severe Cutbacks Expected / 70 Years of Dresden’s DEFA Studio for Animated Film / Discourse Europe: Sweden / Lawrence Côté-Collins Curating Focus Québec

From 8 to 13 April 2025, once more the 37 Filmfest Dresden is inviting short film fans to enjoy an inspiring festival week of highly varied programmes and thought-provoking events and occasions in the Saxon state capital of Dresden. With 3,400 film submissions from 107 countries, the festival is enjoying impressive growth yet again compared to the previous year (2024: 3,200 submissions). The selection committees are now in the process of choosing the entries to compete in the International, National and Central German Competitions. Together with the competition sections, Filmfest Dresden is providing an eclectic array of special programmes focusing on the theme of solidarity this year. The complete programme of the 37th festival edition will be presented during the Press Conference on 18 March 2025 in the Schauburg Dresden festival cinema. Despite these positive developments, Filmfest Dresden is currently facing major challenges: With the severe cutbacks in the culture sector posing significant hurdles for the festival.

“Since the start of the year, we’ve faced huge uncertainties because we’ve also being affected by the cutbacks announced on a municipal level. And on top of that, we’re not expecting to get any binding state or federal funding commitments before the summer – or in other words, long after this year’s festival round is over. This is due especially to the complex and protracted budget negotiations being caused by the state elections here in Saxony and the general election in Germany. Which makes us all the more thankful for the support of our sponsors and partners, who are working together with us on finding solutions to this situation. And when you consider the drastic cutbacks looming in the culture sector, the concept of solidarity is now taking on a whole new sense of urgency,” Festival Director Anne Gaschütz explains.

Thematic Focus “Let’s Stick Together!”

A first taste of the 37th festival edition is being provided by the special programmes, which are devoted to the theme of solidarity and the creating of “Not Impossible” visions. The thematic focus represents the launch of our “Generational Change – A New Justice” Trilogy intended to continue until 2027, with it inviting us this year to ponder the present and future of solidarity – and that also beyond national borders. Doing so, solidarity is being sought out in our daily lives, while also being considered as a tool capable of realising utopias, linking this on a thematic level to last year’s festival focus on utopias. The programme is being compiled by a diverse team of guest curators.

One of these is the Chinese filmmaker Popo Fan, who is currently working on his feature film debut here in Germany. For this year’s festival, he is creating a focal programme on the subject of Language as the Key to New Solidarity in post-migrant Europe. Here, he is revealing how people, regardless of their ethnicities and identities, communicate with each other, as well as to what extent language can serve as a tool for connecting.

A further focal programme is dedicated to Intergenerational Solidarity and presenting a selection of films that highlight the biological, social and cultural networks involved in preserving diversity. The works being screened include the film CUERDAS (2022) from the Spanish director Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren, who caused a global sensation with her feature-length film 20,000 SPECIES OF BEES (2023).

Discourse Europe: Sweden

This year, Discourse Europe is heading for Sweden. The curator Jing Haase has, with a eyewink, termed the programme she has compiled an “anthropological study”, intended as an introduction to the Swedish “species”. Jing Haase has more than two decades of experience in the short film sector, focusing especially on international distribution. Among others, she was the Market Manager at Nordisk Panorama with responsibility for Nordic short and documentary films, as well as head of the short film festival section at the Swedish film funding body.

19th Focus Québec

Already for the 19th time in the Focus Québec section, Filmfest Dresden is highlighting the current short film scene in the French-speaking province of Canada. This year’s programme has been curated by the multitalented director, screenwriter and author Lawrence Côté-Collins. Her unique and highly versatile oeuvre includes fictional films, documentaries and docu-fictions that excel thanks to their authenticity, energy and uninhibited approaches. In the programme selected by her, Côté-Collins is concentrating on the subject of diversity and linking this to the festival’s focus on solidarity.

Animated 1 & 2: Isabel Herguera & 70 Years of Dresden’s DEFA Studio for Animated Film

Yet again, the two programmes in the festival’s Animated section are providing fascinating insights into the diverse forms of expression found in animated short film.

Animated 1 is highlighting the Spanish animation artist and director Isabel Herguera, known for her experimental and poetic works, such as the prize-winning SULTANA’S DREAM (2023). Parallel to her artistic endeavours, she lectures at the KHM Academy of Media Arts Cologne. The films curated by Herguera deal with political and social themes, while accentuating art as a space for freedom. With a perspective on solidarity that is critical of capitalism, she is challenging us to consider alternatives to the financial capitalist system and is issuing a crucial call for empathy with those who urgently need our support.

The second Animated programme is celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the DEFA Studio for Animated Film, which was based in Dresden from 1955 to 1992 and was the biggest animation film studio in Germany, as well as being the most modern one in Europe for a while. Over 35 years, about 2,000 films of outstanding artistic and handcrafted quality were produced, characterised by a great love of detail. Many of these works have now become classics that continue to enthuse audiences to the present day. In cooperation with the DIAF German Institute for Animated Film, Filmfest Dresden is screening several of these gems on the silver screens once more and honouring an important chapter in the history of animated film.

Retrospective: Notes from the Brother States

This year’s retrospective is focusing on the viewpoints of filmmakers with a migrant perspective. Thanks to their singular visual languages, these films tell their tales not from the edges of society, but rather from deep within it. They reflect upon life far removed from their (old) homelands, upon fears, yearnings and solidarity, as well as upon facing racism in both their daily and professional lives. With this retrospective, the festival is creating space for these stories and sending out a powerful appeal for diversity and differentiation.

Regional Focus: German-Sorbian Filmic Oeuvre

Once more at the 37 Filmfest Dresden, the SLUB (Saxon State Library – Dresden State and University Library) and the Saxony Film Association are compiling the Regional Focus screenings in the context of their mutual Securing the Audio-Visual Heritage in Saxony (SAVE) digitalisation programme. With the support of the Foundation for the Sorbian People and in cooperation with the Sorbian-German film network ŁUŽYCAFILM, this year’s selection of films is dedicated to the Lausitz region in Saxony and consists of a carefully curated programme with historical documentary footage from the Sorbian institute.

The programme is focusing on the early days of amateur Sorbian filmmaking, capturing the customs and habits of the Sorbs – traditions that remained deeply rooted in their everyday lives until the 1960s. The programme is highlighting a fascinating chapter in the regional film history and contributing to the preservation of this cultural heritage.

Start of Accreditations

For reporting purposes, press representatives can become accredited to the 37 Filmfest Dresden with immediate effect.

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