FILMFEST MÜNCHEN has announced the line-up of its juries for the 2026 edition. The festival’s competitions will once again be judged by national and international filmmakers, producers, directors, actors and film critics, who will decide on the winners of the most prestigious awards.

Particular attention is being paid to the CineCoPro Award, which, at 100,000 euros, remains the festival’s most lucrative prize. Endowed by the Bavarian Film and Television Fund (FFF Bayern) with the support of the Bavarian State Chancellery, the award is aimed at international co-productions involving German participation. This year’s winner will be selected by producer and screenwriter Kate Solomon, alongside producers Fred Burle and Tobias Walker.

The other competitions will also feature international juries. In the CineMasters competition, which recognises the best international film, actress Ella Rumpf and directors Michael Kofler and Pete Ohs will serve on the jury. The prize, worth 10,000 euros, will be sponsored by Messe München for the first time in 2026.

Director and screenwriter Erec Brehmer, VOGUE Germany’s culture editor Maria Hunstig, and animator and director Geoff Marslett have been appointed to the jury for the CineVision Award, which honours international debut films. In the experimental CineRebels competition, festival director Mimi Plauché, director Narges Kalhor and actor Thomas Hauser will decide on the winner of the award, which comes with a prize of 15,000 euros.

The New German Cinema Awards continue to play a key role within the festival. The awards, which carry a total prize fund of 70,000 euros, are sponsored by DZ BANK, Bavaria Film and Bayerischer Rundfunk. This year’s jury comprises actress Haley Louise Jones, producer and actress Trini Götze, and director Visar Morina.

Also of relevance to the German television industry are the Bernd Burgemeister Television Awards, which recognise productions from the „Neues Deutsches Fernsehen“ series. The winners of the prizes, each worth 25,000 euros, are selected by producer Alexis von Wittgenstein, producer Dagmar Rosenbauer and producer Heike Wiehle-Timm.

In addition to the official festival competitions, a number of other prestigious awards are presented as part of FILMFEST MÜNCHEN. These include, amongst others, the FIPRESCI Prize from the International Federation of Film Critics, the Fritz Gerlich Prize, the One Future Prize and the QMS Award from the Queer Media Society.

„The quality of our awards is reflected not least in the juries, who year after year recognise the best films with great care and passion,“ explain artistic directors Julia Weigl and Christoph Gröner. At the same time, they emphasise the importance of the award sponsors and of international exchange within the festival industry.

Most of the festival prizes will be presented at the awards ceremony on 4 July at the festival centre of the Munich University of Television and Film (HFF).