Highlights and winners of the 42 Munich Film Festival

The Munich International Film Festival rather known as FIlmfest Munich fulfilled all expectations. International stars like Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard and American actress Gilian Anderson came to the Bavarian capital in order to receive the CineMerrit Award aswell as local heroes like comedian Helge Schneider, who received the award for his entire carriere and presented his new film after the award ceremony. 

Between June 27 and July 6, 2025, the festival recorded more than 91,000 attendances of the roughly 600 film screenings and local events held by both the festival and the film industry. At least 16,000 visitors atended the film industry events, a big success for the organisers.

The dreamteam Christoph Gröner as festival director and Julia Weigl as artistic director presented many highlights attracting the public with German or even world premiers and professionals with 2 conventions placed at the beginning and at the end of the festival and high profile panel discussions with important film producers like Ingo Flies and Netflix top management representatives in the audience and on the panel top producers like Veronica Ferres who is empowering other women in the film industry and recently took part at the 2-days conference I organised in Cannes during the Cannes International Film Festival on behalf of the World Woman Foundation.

And then there were unexpected surprises. I met an old friend Frank Otto, who came to Munich in order to attend the German premiere of "The last spy" directed by his sister Katharina Otto-Bernstein. I first time met Frank in 2006 and funny enough at the Berlinale premiere of his sister's documentary "Absolute Wilson" about famous American but London based stage director Robert Wilson.

In the new documentary Katharina takes the audience on an interesting journey reveiling with her main protagonist the so called "last spy" many so far CIA classified informations and the future changing involvement of the United States in many countries like Iran, Guatemala or Indonesia. 

The winners of the 42nd Munich International Film Festival have been announced on 05.07.2025 during an early afternoon award ceremony. 

A highlight of the 42nd Munich International Film Festival was the presentation of the awards in the five international competitions (CineCoPro, CineMasters, CineVision, CineRebels, and CineKindl), the FIPRESCI Prize, the Young Jury Award, and the three Audience Awards. The German Cinema New Talent Award was presented on Friday evening. 

The EUROS 100,000 CineCoPro Award, sponsored by FFF Bayern, is the most lucrative award for German co-producers. This year’s winner was the film “A Poet” (directed by Simón Mesa Soto, German co-producers Katharina Bergfeld und Heino Deckert). 

CineCoPro Award 

“A Poet” with the original title "Un poeta" by Simón Mesa Soto and his German co-producer Katharina Bergfeld and Heino Deckert from ma.ja.de were awarded with the CineCoPro Award by the jury members Matthijs Wouter Knol (CEO and director of the European Film Academy), Jochen Laube (producer, Sommerhaus Filmproduktion) and Anne Carey (head of the film and television department at Priyanka Chopra’s production company Purple Pebble Pictures). 

CineMasters Award 

The CineMasters Award was given to “Kika” by Alexe Poukine. 

Emma Bading (actress and director), Eva Trobisch (director), and Maria Schrader (director, actress, and screenwriter) formed this year’s independent jury for the CineMasters competition. Fourteen films competed for this 15,000-euro award, sponsored by Dorint Hotels & Resorts. 

CineVision Award 

The film “To the West, in Zapata” by David Bim received the CineVision Award as the best international film by an emerging director.

The jury that selected the best director included Viola Fügen (producer), Moritz Binder (screenwriter), and Leo Leigh (screenwriter and director). Fourteen talented international directors competed for this year’s CineVision Award for the best international film by an up-and-coming director. The award, which is sponsored by Adobe starting this year, is endowed with EUROS 10,000. 

CineRebels Award 

The CineRebels Award, presented this year for the third time, went to “Okamoto” by Soujiro Sanada. 

This year’s jury consisted of Anna Hints (screenwriter and director), Dascha Dauenhauer (film composer), and Clemens Schick (actor). The CineRebels Award — an exciting platform for films that dare to take risks and break the mold of established filmmaking — is sponsored by the film festival’s main partner, AUDI, and honors the best directorial achievement. Fourteen productions competed for this award, which is now endowed with 15,000 euros. 

CineKindl Award 

“Omaha” by Cole Webley received the CineKindl Award for best children’s film.

“Hola Frida!” by André Kadi and Karine Vézina was given an honorable mention. 

Since 2022, the megaherz film production company has sponsored the CineKindl Award for the best film in the CineKindl section at the Munich International Film Festival. This award for outstanding directing was presented by a jury comprised of Julia Lemke (director, cinematographer, and author), Jéssica Pestana (programmer at the IndieJúnior International Children’s and Youth Film Festival and member of the short film committee at the IndieLisboa International Film Festival), and Korbinian Dufter (producer and screenwriter). The prize is endowed with 3,000 euros. 

Young Jury Award 

This year’s Young Jury Award went to “The Botanist” by Jing Yi. 

The jury consisted of Iva Mohilnik (filmmaker and photographer), Veronika Havrykova (director), Berke Cetin (aspiring actor), Diana Raetchi (theater studies major), and Jan Gustke (production student). The Young Jury Award, sponsored by HAKRO from 2025 onwards, is worth 2,000 euros. 

Audience Awards 

The festival’s Audience Awards were also presented during the award ceremony. The Audience Awards, supported by media partners Bayerischer Rundfunk and the Süddeutsche Zeitung, went to “Zweigstelle” by Julius Grimm in the German category and to “Sentimental Value” by Joachim Trier in the international category. 

The CineKindl Audience Award went to “Tafiti – Across the Desert” by Nina Wels. 

FIPRESCI Prize 

Since 2015, the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) has presented an award at the Munich International Film Festival to the best film in the New German Cinema section. 

This year, it went to “Sechswochenamt” by Jaqueline Jansen. The FIPRESCI jury consisted of journalists Giulio Zoppello, Rosana G. Alonso, and Joachim Kurz. 

German Cinema New Talent Award 

During the previous evening, on Friday, July 4, 2025, talented German up-and-coming filmmakers were honored with the coveted German Cinema New Talent Award. The jury — comprised of Liliane Amuat (actress), Erol Afşin (director), and Jan-Ole Gerster (film director and screenwriter) — presented Christina Tournatzés with the award for best director for her film “Karla”. Jacqueline Jansen earned the award for best producer for “Sechswochenamt”. Yvonne Görlach was given the award for best screenplay for her screenplay for “Karla” as well as a spot in the Bavaria Fiction mentoring program. Magdalena Laubisch earned the award for best acting performance for her appearance in the film “Sechswochenamt”.