How it all started

The Underdog Film Festival is an open festival, not just aimed at film professionals, but at an audience that brings people from all walks of life together. Premiering on 17th and 18th June 2023, the programme included 40 films from 13 different nations.

And because everything is still so new, we made the conscious choice to start small and only screen short films. In spite of the scorching tempreratures we welcomed some lovely people to our city centre venue and enjoyed great films, great talks, and great company.

Our shortest film was 2 minutes long, our longest just under 30 minutes. The audience got to choose between German and international content, fictional or factual content as well as watching films as part of our screenings or in the privacy of our peep show programme. Additionally, there were a few brave individuals who got their tattoos done in one of the peep shows, including a member of our jury!

... and what 2024 holds in store for you

In 2024 we want to stick to our original plan of hosting the event in early spring. And this includes not only short film competitions, but also a small selection of feature length films. Add some fun extras with a regional flair as well as a clinic for aspiring filmmakers and we're good to go.

The next event will take place on 16th and 17th March 2024 and will once again be hosted by Culture Shocks in Wolfsburg, this time offering several small screens, so you can be sure not to miss a screening.

Regular entries on Filmfreeway will be open until 10th December 2023 (late Deadline 1st January 2024) and we will notify everyone by 21st January 2024, so you will have enough time to plan ahead, in case you wish to attend.

We will announce the 2024 jury in December, but we will be counting on local heroes as well as industry professionals once again. So drop by every now and then, we will keep you posted here.