Fantasy Filmfest Hamburg

The Fantasy Filmfest — on the road since 1987

Founded in Hamburg in 1987, the Fantasy Filmfest is now the largest festival for genre film in the German-speaking world. Unlike independent festivals with a focus on documentaries, the Fantasy Filmfest exclusively features Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller, Black Comedy, Animation, and Fantasy. The audience: film lovers who want to spend their weekends in the cinema and discover films that are otherwise rarely shown in Germany.

Format and Tour

Every year, the festival tours seven German cities — Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich, Nuremberg, and Stuttgart. Each city gets a week during which the entire festival program runs in one cinema. In 2026, the festival will run from September 2nd to 30th.

Hamburg Leg at the Savoy

The Hamburg screenings take place from September 2nd to 9th, 2026 at the Savoy Filmtheater, Steindamm 54. The Savoy in the St. Georg district (Hamburg-Mitte borough) has been the Hamburg home of the festival for years, known as a premium cinema with a large auditorium. Those who book a Hamburg festival week know what to expect: several films every day, the old cinema atmosphere, and a dedicated audience.

40th Edition — What It Means

2026 marks the 40th edition of the festival — a anniversary that will be celebrated with curated classic screenings and special programs. Starting in April 2026, a preparatory series ("Fantasy Filmfest Nights") will run with around 20 selected films, serving as a preview of the main festival.

What to Expect

• International premieres from Korea, Japan, USA, France, Spain
• Retrospectives of individual directors (Eduardo Casanova, Karim Aïnouz, among others in the preview series)
• Q&A sessions with attending filmmakers
• Films that otherwise find no screen in Germany — often the only chance to see them in cinemas

St. Georg — The Neighborhood Behind the Main Station

The St. Georg district is located between the main train station and the Alster lake. Colorful, multicultural, with a mixed clientele, St. Georg has been a vibrant Hamburg neighborhood since the 1990s. The Savoy on Steindamm, with its old cinema hall and attached bar, is one of the establishments that give St. Georg its cultural substance.

For Festival Freaks and Occasional Moviegoers

Anyone who has experienced a festival week at the Savoy usually comes back. The pass system makes it easy to see multiple films back-to-back — and the audience exchanges impressions between films. Genre cinephiles will find their community here.