FILMFEST MÜNCHEN: The No. 1 Platform for German Filmmaking
FILMFEST MÜNCHEN is announcing its programming team for the next two years and its festival dates for 2024. The new festival director, Christoph Gröner, is being assisted by Julia Weigl and Urs Spörri. The next festival events are coming up soon in November.
Christoph Gröner, director of the Internationale Münchner Filmwochen GmbH since October 1, 2023, is reorganizing his seasoned programming team. Julia Weigl, who previously curated many of the festival’s international films, will now be the artistic co-director of FILMFEST MÜNCHEN. Gröner and Weigl will thus be jointly structuring the content of the festival. Together with new co-curator Urs Spörri, they will also be selecting the films for the New German Cinema section, one of the festival’s signature programs. Alongside them, the proven team of accomplished curators Bernhard Karl, Florian Borchmeyer, Ulrike Frick, and Tobi Krell will continue to work together. In order to acquire further world premieres and incorporate new perspectives, program scouts are being added to the team that curates international films. Names will be announced soon.
Meanwhile, FILMFEST MÜNCHEN is also announcing its festival dates: June 28 to July 7, 2024. What’s new are pre-opening days that will feature a variety of events for audiences and the industry. The opening gala at the Gasteig HP8 will be held on Saturday evening, June 29, 2024.
“Amid the ebb and flow of the German festival scene, we are the steady source of premieres and the number-one platform for German filmmaking, while being a place where major discoveries in international cinema are revealed! Nowhere else are German films as visible and in the foreground as here. Nowhere else is equal attention given to screenings and world premieres of works by new and established directors; of motion pictures, TV movies, and series; of minor works and major German and international co-productions. Our festival launches these productions on their international journey,” says festival director Christoph Gröner. “Naturally, our core principles include being very accessible to the public and a lodestone for audiences and the industry. In order to land major premieres, we will be placing even greater emphasis on German co-productions.”
Over the next few weeks, the festival will be providing information about the upcoming FILMSCHOOLFEST MUNICH (Nov. 12–18, 2023) and its second symposium on Representation in Film (Nov. 28–30, 2023), held in cooperation with the Evangelische Akademie Tutzing. The festival is thus continuing to expand in the areas of cooperation and co-production — in order to engage with more and more viewers at new locations and throughout the year. Even after the festival ended, first-time screenings at outdoor events at the Kino am Königsplatz and the PopUp Sommerkino at the University of Television and Film Munich (HFF) attracted thousands of moviegoers.
“Having surveyed audiences and members of the film industry, we are able to look back on a lot of enthusiasm for this festival summer, which saw our 40th anniversary edition and a farewell to my predecessor, Diana Iljine. I would like to take this opportunity to thank her once again for all the energy she put into the festival and for wisely creating a space for new ideas which enabled the festival to grow for more than a decade. I am delighted that our current festival team will now be joining me in shaping the future.”
Images for this press release can be found here.