German Animation Festivals and Markets
The Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film (Internationales Trickfilm-Festival Stuttgart, ITFS) is one of the most outstanding events for animated film worldwide. The Festival presents a full, up-to-date spectrum of animated filmmaking and its intersections with visual effects, architecture, art, design, music and games. It is an Oscar-qualifying film festival.
Animation Production Days (APD) in Stuttgart is a curated business platform for the German and international animation industry.
DOK Leipzig, held every autumn, is unique among festivals worldwide in offering a combination of documentary and animated film. During the week-long festival, about 250 short and long films and extended reality (XR) works are shown.
The Festival of Animation Berlin (FAB) annually presents the best of recent national and international animated films, focusing on artistic shorts across all styles — from traditional to stop motion, CGI, cross-media experiments and 360° films. The festival’s film programme is accompanied by a range of different activities focusing on the art and industry of animation.
The FMX (Film & Media Exchange) Conference on Animation, Effects, Games and Immersive Media is an event by Filmakademie’s Animationsinstitut. It takes place at the exclusive Haus der Wirtschaft in Stuttgart every spring.
Golder Spatz is a festival for children's media! A festival that is celebrated for seven days in two cities - Gera and Erfurt - on countless cinema seats and screens and presents, honours and discusses the best in audiovisual children's media in the German-speaking world.
The International Animation Festival Wiesbaden (Internationales Trickfilmfestival Wiesbaden), also known as "Filme im Schloss," is a prestigious event dedicated to showcasing animated films from around the world. Held annually at the historic Schloss Biebrich in Wiesbaden, the festival highlights a diverse selection of animated works, ranging from short films to feature-length productions. It serves as a platform for celebrating creativity and innovation in animation.
LUCAS - International Festival for Young Film Lovers. Germany’s oldest film festival for young audiences presents award-winning cinematic art for everyone from three years to 18plus. Families and film fans of all ages can look forward to outstanding cinema experiences in Frankfurt, Offenbach and Wiesbaden.
SCHLiNGEL International Film Festival for children and young audience presents a variety of captivating productions that provide insights into other countries, cultures and realities of life and invites to laugh, cheer and empathise. Most of the films will be shown on the big screen in Germany for the first time, some even for the first time worldwide.
With ZACK !, EUNIC Hamburg and its partners want to bring the magic (ZAUBER) of ANIMATION and CARTOONS to the cinema (KINO) in the original version (with subtitles) and celebrate European animated film.
Sources for texts: adapted from the respective festival website