exground filmfest

The 39th edition awards EUR 3,000 to the audience choice for Best German Feature Film. The Amnesty International Wiesbaden jury awards EUR 1,000 to a feature addressing human rights. The Cinema without Limits thematic-focus audience award is EUR 1,000. The German Short Film Competition audience prizes are EUR 3,000, EUR 2,000 and EUR 1,000. The International Short Film Competition jury prize is EUR 2,000. Wiesbaden Special offers an audience prize of EUR 500 and a EUR 1,000 equipment package. The Bring Out Your Trash! jury awards the Golden exground Cucumber and EUR 50. The international youth days feature-film prizes are EUR 2,500 from the youth jury and EUR 1,000 from the audience; the short-film youth jury prize is EUR 500. The Wiesbaden Youth Film Competition audience prize is EUR 500, with a EUR 200 non-cash prize for second place.

The 2026 regulations accept fiction, documentary, animation and experimental films produced in 2025 or 2026. Submission is free. The submission deadline is 1 July 2026; the online entry form is closed. A selection committee assigns accepted films to programme sections and may allow exceptions to competition requirements. German and international short-film competitions and Wiesbaden Special accept films of up to 20 minutes. German competitions require German-language versions or German subtitles; the international short-film competition requires English-language versions or English subtitles. Wiesbaden Special is for productions from Wiesbaden or directors living there. The youth days competitions accept national and international feature and short films. Selected films require a DCP screening copy, due by 1 November 2026, available throughout the festival. Films in other languages require German or English subtitles. Senders cover transport to the festival; the festival insures copies while in its care. Submission grants permission to use excerpts and images for festival publicity. The German regulations are authoritative in cases of doubt.