Oldenburg International Film Festival

Oldenburg International Film Festival
Location	Oldenburg, Germany
Founded	1994
Website	www.filmfest-oldenburg.de

Last updated November 18, 2025

The Oldenburg International Film Festival, sometimes called the European Sundance,^[1] has covered the international film scene in all aspects since 1994. It is held in Oldenburg, Germany.^[2]

History
Tributes and retrospectives
Awards
German Independence Award: Best Film (Audience Award)
German Independence Award: Best German Film
German Independence Award: Best Short Film
German Independence Honorary Award
Hans Ohlms Award for Best First Feature Film
Otto Sprenger Award
Seymour Cassel Award: Outstanding Performance
References
External links

History

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.^{[ citation needed ]}

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 ^[3]
2020: (none)
2021: Mattie Do
2022: Andrea Rau
2023: Isild Le Besco, Jen Gatien
2024: Na Gyi & Paing Phyo Thu
2025: Scott Glenn
2025: Don Keith Opper

Retrospectives

Awards

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 [ de ] (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 [ de ] (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
2024: Max Train — James — Canada
2025: Ondřej Provazník — Broken Voices — Czech Republic, Slovakia

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 [ de ] — 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
2024: Diego Gaxiola — Nostalgia of a (Still) Alive Heart — Mexico, 2024
2025: Jorge Florez Arcila — The Flower of Fear — Columbia, 2025

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
2024: Dominik Graf, Na Gyi, Paing Phyo Thu
2025: James William Guercio, Scott Glenn, Don Keith Opper

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
2024: Michael J. Long — Baby Brother — UK
2025: Alejandro Castro Arias — Harakiri, I Miss You — Spain

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 [ de ] for her role as Ruby in Rough Road Ahead [ de ] (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
2024:
- Aki Kigoshi for her performance in A Wasted Night — Japan, 2024
- Tim Blake Nelson for his performance in Bang Bang — USA, 2024
2025:
- Sabrina Amali for her performance in Maysoon — Germany, Greece 2025
- John Connors for his performance in Crazy Love — Ireland, 2025

References

↑ Prot, Bénédicte (2018-09-19). "Oldenburg 2018 ends on a Promise". Cineuropa. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
↑ "British Council Film: Oldenburg International Film Festival". British Council Film. Retrieved 2025-05-07.
↑ Vena, Teresa (2019-09-16). "In Full Bloom comes out on top at Oldenburg 2019". Cineuropa. Retrieved 2022-08-11.
↑ Staff (October 8, 2010). "Oldenburg International Film Festival honors a master of erotic cinema Radley Metzger". Oldenburg International Film Festival. Retrieved January 28, 2016.

External links

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[1] Prot, Bénédicte (2018-09-19). "Oldenburg 2018 ends on a Promise". Cineuropa. Retrieved 2023-09-26.

[2] "British Council Film: Oldenburg International Film Festival". British Council Film. Retrieved 2025-05-07.

[3] Vena, Teresa (2019-09-16). "In Full Bloom comes out on top at Oldenburg 2019". Cineuropa. Retrieved 2022-08-11.

[OIFF-20101008-4] Staff (October 8, 2010). "Oldenburg International Film Festival honors a master of erotic cinema Radley Metzger". Oldenburg International Film Festival. Retrieved January 28, 2016.

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