International Film Festival

On 28th May 1967 the “Kleinstes Filmfestival der Welt” (Smallest Film Festival of the World) was held. This was the birth of the Hof Film Festival, although the first festival only lasted two hours, during which nine films of between 59 seconds and 40 minutes were shown to an audience of about 100 interested visitors. The programme was arranged and organized by Heinz Badewitz, a young cameraman and film producer from Hof, who had the intention of turning this mini-festival into a proper film festival, the “Hofer Filmtage”. This was only possible because Badewitz put on an “open” festival, i.e. there was no previous censorship of the films, which would have meant that public subsidies would not be available. The second Hof Film Festival took place in May 1968. The films were provocative, the audiences protested. And yet, perhaps because of the lack of censorship, the film festival turned into a platform for young film makers. From the third Film Festival on, the town council of Hof agreed to support the event financially, although the first grant was only 1000 DM. Besides, from then on the official organizer was the newly founded “Cine-Center Hof e.V.” and the films were shown in the Central-Theater in Hof’s Altstadt, which has been the venue of the festival ever since.

Inextricably linked with the Hof Film Festival is not only the name Heinz Badewitz, but also football. During the festival there is always a football match between FC Hofer Filmtage and as guests FC Hofer Filmwelt. One of the top scorers is the well-known producer Werner Herzog.

The Hof Film Festival has long since come of age and the name Hof is taken to mean “Home Of Films”. International critics agree that it is the second most important film festival in Germany after the Berlinale. The “Filmpreis der Stadt Hof” (Hof Film Prize), which was first conferred in 1986, has gone to celebrities such as Doris Dörrie, Wim Wenders or Herbert Achternbusch.