International Short Film Festival Oberhausen

One of the world's oldest and most influential short film festivals, held in May

The International Short Film Festival Oberhausen has been running since 1954, making it one of the oldest film festivals in the world and the most prestigious short film festival in Germany. It takes place each May, screening several hundred films from around the world in competition alongside retrospectives, installations, and industry events.

The festival's historical weight is considerable. It was here in 1962 that a group of young filmmakers signed the Oberhausen Manifesto, demanding autonomy from the commercial film industry — a declaration that helped launch the New German Cinema movement. The festival remains genuinely interested in experimental and non-commercial short film, which makes it different from the celebrity film festivals that dominate the international calendar.

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The 1962 Oberhausen Manifesto was signed by a group of young German filmmakers at this festival, declaring that "the old film is dead" and demanding creative freedom from the commercial industry. It became the founding document of the New German Cinema movement — Fassbinder, Herzog, and Wenders all emerged from the artistic environment it helped create.

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