HAUS FÜR POESIE

More than 1,000 submissions from over 90 countries were received for this year's International Competition. The competition films will be screened in two evening programs on June 6 and 7 at 7:30 PM.

In addition to the International Competition, the festival will present four thematic programs — Histories, Connections, Voices, and Hauntings — offering insight into the diversity of the poetry film scene with around 50 animations, fiction, experimental films, and documentaries. Both the films and the poems they are based on question history and current political conditions, explore identity and the ever-relevant longing for human connection, are guided by spirits, and travel through landscapes and memories. The films range from visionary dreams to clear documentary approaches — poetic and fearless.

The award ceremony for the International Competition will take place on Sunday, June 8 at 7:30 PM. Three awards totaling €9,000 will be awarded: the Zebra Award for the Best Poetry Film, the Goethe Film Award – The Art of Listening, and the Ritter Sport Film Award. The Goethe Award will be presented by Dr. Wolf Iro, Head of Literature and Translation Promotion at the Goethe-Institut, while the Ritter Sport Award will be awarded by Michael Edmund Böttner, Head of Bunte Schokowelt Berlin at Alfred Ritter GmbH & Co. KG. This year’s jury consists of Christine Franz (music journalist and documentary film director, Germany), Ariane von Graffenried (poet, Switzerland), and Anne Isensee (filmmaker, Germany).

In the Zebrino Competition for children and youth, an audience award will also be presented. The award ceremony will feature live music by A.S. Fanning.