International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg


Mannheim-Heidelberg International Filmfestival, often shortened to IFFMH, is an annual film festival held jointly by the cities of Mannheim and Heidelberg in Baden-Württemberg. The festival was established in 1952.
The festival presents arthouse films of international newcomer directors. It is the second-oldest film festival in Germany. Since 1994 it has been held jointly by the cities of Mannheim and Heidelberg. The festival takes place annually around November.
The 69th International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg will take place between November 12 to November 22, 2020.

Festival profile

The International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg is aimed at industry professionals as well as cinema enthusiasts, with about 300 professional participants and approximately 50,000 visitors each year, it is one of the largest film festivals in Germany. After several screenings there are public panel discussions with the film's representatives.
The festival presents films of independent newcomer directors and who are internationally widely-unknown, focussing on arthouse and auteur films. The films selected must be premieres and thus films screened at Cannes, Locarno, Venice and any German festival are excluded for the International Competition.
In 2010, the MANNHEIM MEETING PLACE was launched. The project succeeds the Festival's former co-production market MANNHEIM MEETINGS, focusing on the improvement of marketing opportunities of completed film projects. However, co-production meetings will still take place.
During the history of the festival, feature films by now-famous directors such as François Truffaut, Helke Sander, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Kalthoum Bornaz, Jim Jarmusch, Shelley Saywell, Atom Egoyan, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Bryan Singer, Guillaume Nicloux, Lou Ye, Rafi Pitts, Thomas Vinterberg, Derek Cianfrance, Luca Guadagnino and Rahmin Bahrani were first introduced to an international public at the festival.

Competition and awards

In addition, since 1998 in sporadic intervals, the honorary Master of Cinema Award is issued to outstanding cineastic artist:
In addition, since 2013, the honorary New Master of Cinema Award is issued:

2019