Outlook on the 38 Filmfest Dresden: Special Programmes Focusing on “Work in Progress”
New Submissions Record: 3,800 Short Films // Tight Financial Situation Again // Discourse Europe: Latvia // Regional Focus with Films from the Ernst Hirsch Collection // 20 Years of Focus Québec
From 14 to 19 April 2026, the Saxon state capital of Dresden will become a magnet once more for lovers of the short film format. With 3,800 submissions to the 38th edition of Filmfest Dresden, more films were entered than ever before – representing a clear increase compared to the previous year (2025: 3,400). Before the selection committees have chosen the works to be screened in the International, National and Central German Competitions, the festival is providing an initial insight into the thematic focus of the special programmes screening this year beyond the competition sections: Under the title of “Work in Progress”, debates about fairness in the workplace, as well as solidarity and the future of work will be initiated. At the same time, the film festival’s financial situation continues to remain tight.
Festival Director Anne Gaschütz:
“It’s going to be a challenging year yet again for Filmfest Dresden. The festival’s production and running costs have been rising steadily for years now – especially due to the ongoing inflation – yet its funding has not only failed to keep pace with this, it’s actually declining overall. We already had significant funding cuts in 2025, and again this year we are being negatively impacted by the city of Dresden’s budget freeze, amounting to a further ten percent reduction. Moreover, this situation is also affecting a large part of Dresden's independent arts scene and is even extending into the areas of education, youth and social requirements.
At the same time we are facing significant cost increases, such as in the rents for the technology, venues and film projections, as well as further costs for materials and so on. Yet for that, for years now we have not been able to adjust the fees and wages in line with inflation – and this is having dire consequences on a sector where many of the people involved in it are already working under precarious conditions and nearly on the breadline.
So with this background in mind, now is the time for us to shift our focus from last year’s broad thematic exploration of solidarity to the all-important world of work.”
The complete programme of the 38th festival edition will be presented during the Programme Press Conference on 24 March 2026 in the Schauburg Dresden festival cinema.
Thematic Focus “Work in Progress”
A first taste of the 38th festival edition is being provided by the special programmes, which are devoted to the theme of work. Representing the second part of the “Generational Change – A New Justice” Trilogy extending until 2027, this year’s thematic focus is a logical continuation of last year’s spotlight on solidarity and invites us to newly negotiate issues of fairness and justice in the workplace, as well as social cohesion and the future of work. In this sense, work seems to be a central prerequisite for self-respect, social involvement and democratic participation – while precarious and unfair working conditions, on the other hand, undermine these foundations and exacerbate social tensions.
In a world of work facing upheavals and characterised by digitalisation, insecurity and global transformations, films make these frequently hidden realities visible. Short films are compact, astute and thus especially effective when tackling this subject matter: They reveal alienation and disaffection, power structures and alternative perspectives – and doing so open up new spaces for social discussions. Film festivals assume this cultural and democratic mission on a conscious level.
In the context of this thematic focus, Filmfest Dresden is now cooperating for the third time with the Schaufler Lab@TU Dresden, the research and exchange platform of the TU University Dresden at the interface of art, science and technology. In one of four thematic programmes, they jointly address the challenges of globalisation and the changes in today’s working environments. In addition, they also reveal how big data and digital technologies are having a lasting impact on our relationships, politics, sciences and the environment.
Likewise, the new campaign motif from the artist Keiko Hoshino addresses the focal theme: Like a blueprint for an alternative order, it visualises work as an open, fragile and designable state – a world in the process of becoming, where everything is possible.
Discourse Europe: Latvia
In this year’s Discourse Europe, Filmfest Dresden is focusing on the creative power and visual originality of Latvian filmmaking with two programmes.
The guest curator Lauma Kaudzīte, Programme Director for Short Films at the Riga International Film Festival, has compiled a cross-genre selection of current Latvian short films for the first Discourse Europe programme. The works revolve around love, transformation, questions of identity and memory, and the fleeting beauty of everyday life, playfully combining traditional and surreal visual languages doing so.
Complementing this in the second Discourse Europe programme, the curators Dr. Elīna Reitere and Dr. Claus Löser, together with Sanita Grīna from the National Archives of Latvia in Riga, are presenting a selection of short films from the late phase of the Soviet Union. These courageous works from amateur film circles, created on the edges of legality and beyond the official filmmaking processes, explore new aesthetic and contextual routes while expanding the boundaries of socialist realism.
Regional Focus: SAVE Presenting Films from the Ernst Hirsch Collection
Yet again at the 38 Filmfest Dresden, the SLUB (Saxon State Library – Dresden State and University Library) and the Saxony Film Association are presenting the “Regional Focus” in the context of their mutual Securing the Audio-Visual Heritage in Saxony (SAVE) digitalisation programme. On the occasion of the cinematographer and documentary filmmaker Ernst Hirsch’s 90th birthday, the film festival is screening selected excerpts from his extensive private archive of historical film footage – with live commentary by Ernst Hirsch himself.
20 Years of Focus Québec
The film festival is celebrating a further anniversary with this year’s Focus Québec, which is honouring the extraordinary filmmaking of the French-speaking Canadian province for the 20th time. As a creative film region with a distinctive identity, Québec combines experimental, documentary and narrative formats, representing a prime example of transatlantic exchanges. Focus Québec has long established itself as a crowd favourite at the festival and is celebrating its anniversary this year with international guests.
Start of Accreditations
For reporting purposes, press representatives can become accredited to the 38 Filmfest Dresden from 19 January.