25th FILMZ — Festival of German Cinema

FILMZ — Festival of German Cinema is the oldest and largest feature film festival in Rhineland-Palatinate and one of Mainz's most important cultural events. Since its founding in 2001 as a volunteer initiative by film enthusiasts from the University of Mainz, it has continuously professionalized without losing its character as an audience festival with strong academic ties.

The 25th anniversary edition from November 2 to 15, 2026, spans two weeks, making the festival one of the longest-running in Germany for German-language feature film productions. Current feature films, documentaries, and short films from German-speaking countries — Germany, Austria, Switzerland — will be shown, many as Mainz or Rhineland-Palatinate premieres.

The venues are the downtown Mainz cinemas: the arthouse cinema Capitol (Neubrunnenstraße), the traditional Palatin (Frauenlobstraße), the Residenz (Adam-Karrillon-Straße), and CineStar in Mainz-Hechtsheim. This allows the festival to cover both the arthouse and multiplex spheres, reaching a broad audience.

The competition program is divided into the main feature film competition (Lichtblicke Award and Audience Award), the short film competition, and an award for emerging filmmakers for debut films. A panel of experts, including film critics, directing students, and industry representatives, decides on the Lichtblicke Awards; the Audience Award is determined by ballot cards — the audience has the final say.

Accompanying the screenings are workshop talks with directors, actors, and producers of the shown films, discussion forums on industry topics (film funding, streaming disruption, diversity in German cinema), a school program with curated film offerings for school classes, and a special focus on the 'Kultursommer', which picks up on the annual theme of the 'Kultursommer Rheinland-Pfalz' — in 2026, the Roaring Twenties.

Submissions for the feature film and short film competitions were open until June 30, 2026. The FILMZ team curates the program from the submitted entries.

FILMZ is run entirely on a volunteer basis — a core team of about 30 students, film enthusiasts, and Mainz cultural professionals organizes the festival editions.