ENCOURAGE Film Talents (2)

Festival start: 29 September 2025      Festival end: 30 September 2025

As part of the collaboration between Filmfest Hamburg and ENCOURAGE Film Talents, we invite submissions of film projects currently in the screenwriting stage to be pitched to national and international industry professionals during the 33rd edition of Filmfest Hamburg (September 25 – October 4, 2025).

Together, Filmfest Hamburg and ENCOURAGE Film Talents aim to focus on emerging filmmakers during the Industry Days of the festival, offering them the opportunity to connect with the film industry and bring fresh perspectives. This initiative seeks to give new cinematic talent an important platform.

The ENCOURAGE Film Talents Industry Day will take place as part of the Industry Days at Filmfest Hamburg. As with the Berlinale Get Together in February, the focus will be on up-and-coming filmmakers from the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland). The platform is designed to present projects in a non-public setting and foster connections with a broad audience of established filmmakers and other representatives of the film industry.

ENCOURAGE Film Talents is therefore looking for film projects currently in the screenwriting phase. The selected concepts will be pitched by the creators at the ENCOURAGE Film Talents Industry Day.

Submission Criteria
Unfilmed Project Concepts | Pitch

Fiction and documentary feature films (60 minutes or longer), as well as series concepts

Open to all genres

Logline and synopsis

Project exposé (minimum 2, maximum 4 A4 pages, excluding visual material)

Commentary on the current stage of development

Optional comments on the originality of the premise or personal connection to the topic – max. 1 page

Biography and filmography of the filmmakers – max. 1 page

The PDF file must not exceed 6 A4 pages in total.

A separate project dossier may also be submitted in addition to the required materials (which must still be complete). However, in case of doubt, only the main PDF described above will be considered for selection.

The exposé should follow the guidelines and examples available at:
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At this time, no information can be provided regarding possible awards.

Regulations

ENCOURAGE Film Talents Industry Day
as part of Filmfest Hamburg 2025

1. CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION
Eligible for submission to the ENCOURAGE Film Talents Industry Day at Filmfest Hamburg 2025 are: project concepts. All submitted works must be created by emerging filmmakers—either students enrolled at a film school, individuals without formal film education, or alumni—provided that no more than three of the core roles (director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer, editor) have been involved in more than two film, television, or streaming productions with a budget exceeding €1.2 million. There is no age restriction.

Submitted projects must originate from the D/A/CH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), meaning they must have been either produced or shot in one of these countries, or at least one of the above-mentioned key creative roles must be held by a person with D/A/CH citizenship.

Only unfilmed project concepts that are not currently in production are eligible (see section 3.1 for details). Only officially submitted projects will be considered for selection. Submissions are accepted exclusively online via Festhome. All submitters will be notified in writing about the outcome. Due to the high number of submissions, individual feedback on selection decisions cannot be provided. The final selection will be made by the Co-Directors.

Selected pitch projects will be presented to industry professionals and experts as part of the ENCOURAGE Film Talents Industry Day during Filmfest Hamburg.

Participation implies unconditional acceptance of all regulations. Producers, distributors, or any other individuals or organizations submitting a project concept are responsible for obtaining consent from any third parties involved in its creation. All individuals who submit a project and agree to these rules are considered participants.

Selected filmmakers are required to provide the organizer with appropriate promotional materials (photos, biographies, stills, trailers) for use in promoting the event. These materials must be free of legal claims and will be requested by the organizer upon selection.

The organizer reserves the right to offer awards and distinctions within the mentioned sections.

The Co-Directors of ENCOURAGE Film Talents reserve the right to make individual decisions in exceptional cases not covered by these regulations.

2. SUBMISSIONS
A complete online registration and project submission via https://festhome.com/ is required no later than July 7, 2025. Submitted films must be made available to the ENCOURAGE team via download link.

To submit a film or pitch project, preview files and additional required documents (PDFs under "Files & Attachments") must be uploaded to https://festhome.com/.

It must be ensured that the project files remain available online until at least February 28, 2026. Submissions via email will not be accepted.

Additional required materials (see section 3) for submissions in the Work-In-Progress and Project Concept categories must be sent as PDFs via email to:
???? programm-encourage@daskollaborativ.de

Submissions must indicate if the project was created in association with a film school or received regional funding.

Only complete and regulation-compliant submissions will be reviewed and considered.

The ENCOURAGE team reserves the right to extend the submission deadline (July 7, 2025).

3. CATEGORIES
We invite filmmakers and organizations to submit in the following category:

3.1 PROJECT CONCEPTS
We welcome submissions of unfilmed concepts (projects not yet in production), and accept all genres of feature-length fiction and documentary films (60+ minutes), as well as series concepts.

A complete submission must include a PDF file containing the following:

Logline & Synopsis

Project exposé (minimum 2, maximum 4 pages, A4 format; no images)

Commentary on the current development stage of the project

Optional comments on the originality of the premise or personal connection to the topic

Biography and filmography of the creative team

The PDF must not exceed 10 A4 pages in total. A separate project dossier may be submitted in addition, but in case of doubt, only the specified PDF will be considered in the selection process.

If selected, the project must be presented in person by up to two representatives. Travel and accommodation costs will not be covered by the organizer.

The exposé must follow the format and examples provided here:
???? https://www.hff-muenchen.de/de_DE/bewerbungsexpose

4. USAGE RIGHTS
Participants grant the organizer, free of charge, a non-exclusive, sublicensable, territorially unlimited right to use the submitted and provided materials for the purpose of presentation at ENCOURAGE Film Talents and for preview during the selection process.

The organizer reserves the right to share selected project concepts with industry partners for feedback purposes, following consultation with the participants.

5. INDEMNIFICATION
Participants declare and guarantee that they hold all rights necessary for the use of their project concepts under this agreement and that they are entitled to grant such rights to the organizer.

Participants ensure that all third parties involved in production or distribution have agreed to the usage terms as outlined in this document. They also confirm that no third-party rights, including those of individuals depicted in the film, are infringed upon.

Participants agree to indemnify the organizer against any third-party claims, particularly copyright claims, brought against the organizer.

Participants must promptly inform the organizer of any known infringement of the granted rights. The organizer reserves the right to take legal action or defense as appropriate, in consultation with the participant. Any costs incurred for legal defense by the organizer that are not reimbursed by third parties must be borne by the participant. Other claims arising from breach of guarantee remain unaffected.