Competitions
Manifesto
The competitions in the context of the festival
The FiSH Filmfestival Rostock showcases the artistic diversity of a generation, brings together international filmmakers and audiences, and offers the opportunity to explore the unique qualities and commonalities of young film cultures. With the German competition JUNGER FILM and the Northern European competition OFFshorts – Young Baltic Cinema, two key program strands have been established, focusing on filmmaking both in Germany and across the Northern European region. They are complemented by nationwide competitions such as the Media Literacy Award MV and the music video competition PopFiSH.
The mere admission of a film to the competitions, is a distinction of cinematic quality and originality.
FiSH is an audience festival that enables film makers to experience their own films in high technical image and sound quality and a resonating space of at least 150 to 300 film enthusiasts
FiSH is a discursive festival that enables film makers to experience their own films in public jury discussions, film discussions on stage and in subsequent expert and debating discussions by the audience.
Admission to the competitions
Our goal is to reach as many young filmmakers up to the age of 26 as possible – both across Germany and the Northern European region – and to invite them to submit their films to the festival’s competitions.
Films are admitted under the following conditions:
films may not be older than two years
the directors may not be older than 26 years at the time of the film’s completion, whereby the participation of older people in the film production is not a criterion for exclusion
films have to be non-commercial, (i.e., films that are not made for profit or in other economic contexts – such as commissioned production)
which are not longer than 30 minutes
Film competitions and selection committees
The competition programmes are intended to capture the interesting artistic currents and innovations of a film year in terms of content and form. The members of our selection committee are expected to be aesthetically tolerant and to have a wide range of interests in the reception and evaluation of different contents and aesthetic forms of expression.
Selection criteria
the film has “heart and soul”, i.e. it is thematically relevant and authentic, it tells its audience something that the filmmakers are not indifferent to, but on the contrary so stirring and tremendously important that the audience can feel it
the cinematic narrative is fresh and unconventional, at best original and innovative, the film language is well crafted
the film has the potential to grip the audience, to entertain and challenge them, to excite and agitate them, to provoke reactions and thus discussion
the decisive criterion is the narrative content in priority over the narrative form, as far as this can be distinguished at all
We welcome submissions that portray a fair and modern view of social categories such as gender, background, or age. Sexualized or racist insults have no place in the festival!
Award juries
Ehe expert juries, which are as diverse as possible, award the prizes in the various competitions to films that meet the above criteria in discussions that are rich in discussion and open to the public on stage.
Last revised in October 2025 by the FiSH Festival Team.