HAUS FÜR POESIE

The ‘Ritter Sport Film Award’, donated by Alfred Ritter GmbH & Co. KG, was presented to En attendant les barbares (Greek: Περιμένοντας τους Βαρβάρους, English: Waiting for the Barbarians) (France / Greece 2026) by Georges Sifianos, based on a poem by Constantine Cavafy.

From the jury’s statement:
"Feet run across a shaky ground, shuffle, tap and leap - yet they leave no footprints. [...] While Constantinos Cavafy's canonical poem asks what happens to a society in anticipation of the Barbarians, the associative imagery of this sophisticated animation goes one step further asking who turns us into Barbarians and what makes us human. In his own distinctively ingenious visual language Georges Sifianos draws from ancient times and classic material to make a powerful statement about today, alarming and inspiring at the same time."

The ‘Goethe Film Award – The Art of Utopia’, donated by the Goethe-Institut, was awarded to Saturday Night Blues (USA 2025) by Jean Coleman; the poem Saturday Night Blues is by Brontez Purnell.

From the jury’s statement:
“Everything in this film seems ordinary: practicing the drums, smoking, going outside, riding a bike. A toothbrush, a bath mat, a fan—inner life, outer life, inner life. But if the most ‘high risk behaviour’ for a gay Black man is simply existing, then resistance lies precisely in that existence. Image and poem intertwine in their slowness and almost dreamlike chain of associations between details and thoughts—a quiet, laconic film that counters pain, fear, and violence with a melancholic but also defiant “but I do live.”

The ‘Zebra Award for Best Poetry Film’, donated by the Haus für Poesie, was presented to Tumatawa, Umiiyake (English: Laughing and Crying, Philippines 2024) by Che Tagyamon, based on a poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

From the jury’s statement:
“A trail through memories. Told through the eyes of a child who, holding his grandfather’s hand, wanders through an urban landscape in the Global South. A silhouette of towering buildings looms over the familiar neighbourhood. The underlying poem is transformed into an elliptical narrative and becomes part of the film’s diegetic world. A quiet reflection on social inequality. A story spanning generations. A wonderful collage of animated images and photographic documents, it powerfully translates a lyrical text from a bygone era into the present and leaves us with mixed feelings.”

In addition, the audience of the Zebrino Poetry Film Festival for young people awarded an Audience Prize: Még / Still (Hungary 2025) by Vivien Tóth, featuring a poem also written by Vivien Tóth.

Two Honourable Mentions were also given: one for Een Olifant in de Porseleinkast / An Elephant in the Porcelain Cabinet (Netherlands 2024) by Bonne Steinz, featuring the poem of the same name, also by Bonne Steinz.

And another for the film My Body, a Snail Shell / Mein Körper ein Schneckenhaus (Germany 2026) by Jeanine Lang, likewise based on a poem of the same name by the filmmaker herself.

The jury of the Zebrino Poetry Film Festival this year consisted of Zoé Helmke (16), Tonda Montasser (15), and Jona Valentin Rose (11).

The Zebra Poetry Film Festival took place this year concurrently with Poesiefestival Berlin. For four days, the Kuppelhalle at silent green showcased the diversity of poetry film. Alongside the International Competition, the festival opened with three curated programs on the themes ‘Grief’, ‘Connections’, and ‘Myth’, offering new perspectives on poetic forms of expression in film through around 40 animations, fiction and experimental films, as well as documentaries.

In addition, two guest programs were presented: the Argentine festival VideoBardo travelled from Buenos Aires to Berlin. As one of the oldest festivals for video poetry and poetry film, it presented a selection of international works. Another highlight was the screening of Un Poeta, a feature film by Simón Mesa Soto, which premiered in May 2025 at the Cannes Film Festival.

The Zebra Poetry Film Festival is organized by the Haus für Poesie and funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion. With kind support from silent green Kulturquartier, the Goethe-Institut, Ritter Sport, and Berliner Filmfestivals.