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60th edition · Home of Films

Internationale Hofer Filmtage

Kino ist Leben. You are the Story. Leave a Spark.

20–25 October 2026

For sixty years, a small Bavarian town has been the place where new German and independent cinema shows up first. The 60th Internationale Hofer Filmtage run from 20 to 25 October 2026, in the cinemas of Hof and, for a week after, online.

Plakat der 60. Internationalen Hofer Filmtage
Illustration: Sebastian Stamm

What it is

Heinz Badewitz started the Hofer Filmtage in 1967 as, in his words, the world's smallest film festival: a matinee and a handful of short films. It grew into the yearly meeting point of new German cinema and earned its nickname, das Festival der Neuentdeckungen, the festival of discoveries. Wim Wenders, Werner Herzog, Tom Tykwer, Caroline Link and Maren Ade all showed early work here. Thorsten Schaumann has run it since 2017, after Badewitz died in 2016.

What to see

The full 2026 line-up is announced in October. What the festival is built around:

A short and a feature, together
A Hof signature: many screenings pair a short film with a feature. Premieres, most of them German first showings, are usually introduced by the director, who stays for questions afterwards.
Around 130 films in six days
Roughly half are international independent titles, the rest new German work, across fiction, documentary and short film.
The Retrospektive
Every year since 1976 the festival honours an internationally known filmmaker with a retrospective. The 2026 name is announced closer to the festival.
HoF Plus
Around the screenings: classics shown on 8, 16 and 35mm film, filmmaker talks and master classes, a seven-minute pitch to industry, and a nightly talk show on the festival's channel.
Younger audiences and XR
The #ofNext strand programmes cinema for a young generation, and HoF XR shows extended-reality work.
The football match
The filmmakers' team, FC Hofer Filmtage, plays the local FC Filmwelt Hof, a fixture for decades.

Sixty years

The anniversary edition runs under the motto Kino ist Leben. You are the Story. Leave a Spark. It brings a new prize, the Planet Rebels Award, worth 5,000 euros from the Oberfranken Stiftung, for a feature or documentary on the climate, the environment and the future; the jury also weighs how sustainably each film was made.

Three exhibitions in the city
All free to visit, in the weeks around the festival:
60 Jahre Home of Films
Freiheitshalle Hof · 21 September – 30 October 2026
Six decades of Hofer Filmtage posters.
Das Theater im Sucher – Die Fotografin Ruth Walz
Theater Hof · 18 September – 29 October 2026
Five decades of theatre photography by Ruth Walz. Ladenburger's documentary about her has its world premiere in Hof.
Filmkunst auf Papier – Kultplakate der Hofer Filmtage
Klostergalerie der Diakonie Hochfranken · for the anniversary
Original film posters from the archive of the Freunde der Hofer Filmtage.

The prizes

A selection of the awards and what they carry.

Förderpreis Neues Deutsches Kino
German Cinema New Talent Award
10,000 €
Granit – Hofer Dokumentarfilmpreis
documentary award
7,500 €
Hans-Vogt-Preis
for sound
5,000 €
Planet Rebels Award
new in 2026, for films on climate, environment and the future
5,000 €

Tickets

Anyone can go: the festival sells single cinema tickets to the public, no accreditation needed. In 2025 a ticket cost 8.50 euros, 7.50 reduced, with 5- and 10-ticket passes at 39 and 78 euros. The 2026 prices are published closer to the festival. Tickets are sold online through the festival shop and in person at the box office in the Bürgergesellschaft, Poststraße 6.

Many films then stream on the festival's own platform, HoF On Demand, for a week after their premiere, until 1 November. Streaming is available in Germany only.

Festival ticket shop2025 prices, a guide until the 2026 tariff is out

Getting there

The venues sit in Hof's old town, a few minutes' walk apart, with the Central Kino at Altstadt 8 as the hub. Hof has its own main station; the train from Munich takes about three and a half hours.

The venues
Central Kino
main venue
Altstadt 8
Bürgergesellschaft
venue and festival box office
Poststraße 6
Arts Avenue
step-free via the side entrance
Bachstraße 10
Freiheitshalle
opening and exhibition
Kulmbacher Straße 4
Festival venue

Common questions

When are the Hofer Filmtage 2026?
From 20 to 25 October 2026, in Hof, Bavaria. It is the 60th edition.
Can anyone attend, or is it for the industry?
Anyone can attend. The festival sells single cinema tickets to the public; in 2025 a ticket was 8.50 euros. No accreditation is needed.
Can I watch the films online?
Yes. Many films stream on the festival's platform, HoF On Demand, for a week after their premiere, until 1 November. Streaming works in Germany only.
What kind of festival is it?
A festival for new German and international cinema, long the place where young directors show early work. It was founded in 1967.
Why is it called Home of Films?
Wim Wenders gave it the name at the 25th anniversary in 1991, for how often filmmakers return to it.

Facts on this page checked on 6 September 2026.

Sources