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 in June 2023, the programme included 40 films from 13 different nations.
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!
In 2024 we stuck to our original plan of hosting the event in early spring. And this included not only short film competitions, but also a small selection of feature length films as well as some fun extras with a regional flair and workshops for aspiring filmmakers hosted by one of our partners the Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences - Faculty for Automotive Engineering.
We also introduced the "42 films challenge" that was open to films between 42 and 420 seconds. The audience picked the winner in this micro competition.
Our jury was tasked with shortlisting the nominees for our competitions from the longlisted films and announced the winning teams selected by our audience on 17th March during the official awards ceremony. Category wins such as "Best Cinematographer", "Best Director", and "Best Actor" were determinded based on the jury's initial ratings.
... and what 2026 holds in store for you
Same, same ... but different. Those by now three test-runs certainly helped us determine our style. Additionally, the festival is now being organised by a registered society, the Culture Club. This means that the society's board members are currently ironing out all the wrinkles in out 2026 concept. Some things we have decided to let go, quite a few things we will keep, and some will simply take up more space than before. We will still be offering our diverse and free workshop programme, however, in order to ensure that people get a chance to watch the films, we will have one day of screenings and no workshops on that day, but rather in the days leading up to it and the day after. We have ditched the featreu film section and added the children's film section as well as mixing some individual sections to form one, as people rarely submitted correctly anyway (Sorry, folks, but really?) ...
The next event will take place on 28th March 2026 and will once again be hosted by Culture Shocks in Wolfsburg, offering several small screens that operate on rotation, so you can be sure not to miss a screening.
Additionally, there will be free workshops again, especially to help people get started in the industry. You would have to sign up in afvance as there is a limited number of spots available. We are still in the process of deciding content and timing, but we will keep you posted.
Our jury will again be shortlisting the nominees for our competitions from the longlisted films and will announce the winning films selected by our audience on 28th March during the awards ceremony. Category wins such as "Best Camera", "Best Director" and "Best Actor" will be determinded based on the jury's initial ratings.
During the past festivals some of Culture Shocks' artists were offering tattoo services, whilst people could enjoy the peep show programme. For 2026 there will be a number of artists on site to fulfill (small) tattoo dreams. Just bear in mind that it helps to show up ealry, as they operate on a first come first serve basis.
Click Me
In 2023 films were screened as part of our screenings on the big screen and in the privacy of our peep show programme. 2024 saw the tattoo parlour converted into an epic cinema of minature proportions, meaning we used several individual rooms as screens and offer reruns of screenings, so people can take a film break and still not miss all the exciting content. Keeping this practice up gives everyone an opportunity to use the beautiful foyer for relaxation and a bit of networking.
Click Me2023 to 2025
The first ever annual Underdog Film Festival took place in one of Wolfsburg's most unique location and hosted films from all over the globe, welcoming a lovely audience to experience this cozy live event over the course of a weekend in June. Combining, live screenings with our daily peepshow booth prorgamme as well as a number of interesting panels, spectators and filmmakers alike were able to shape this event and make it a memorable experience for everyone who decided to drop by. Like any new event, however, ours has also evolved. We have tried to make things a little less complicated and a little more transparent. And with submissions from over 52 countries, shortlisting those films was quite a heartbreaking task for the members of our 2025 jury. We are quite hopeful to be able to grow our festival some more in the coming years, so we can provide more screening opportunities for some genuinly worthwhile content. This does, however, also depend on our audience. So drop by in 2026, have a look and have a chat with those filmmakers in attendance about what makes you want to stick around for more!
