Mo&Friese stands for short film. All genres, all forms, all age groups!
The Hamburg Short Film Festival is one of the most renowned and important short film festivals in Europe. Since 1998 it has also been dedicated to the younger audience with the young short film festival Hamburg Mo&Friese and shows current and relevant short films in eight international competition programs every year at the beginning of June, which meet their target group at eye level and take their personal point of view seriously.
Thanks to the presence of many filmmakers, numerous moderated events succeed in bringing viewers, filmmakers and specialist audiences together. In addition, annually changing film workshops introduce children and young people to aspects of filmmaking and stimulate their own creativity. In addition, the ” High 5!” screening for young filmmakers invites young filmmakers up to the age of 18 to submit their own short works.
“The eyes are the windows of the soul”, said Hildegard von Bingen 1000 years ago! And these windows are as different as the people themselves. Perhaps everything I see as red is blue for my girlfriend … or everything I find magical is completely unappetizing for my boyfriend. And what actually happens when we close our eyes? If you have an idea about this and would like to turn it into a film,you should submit your maximum 5-minute film to us by March 24, 2025 in order to take part in the Gib Mir 5! We offer two young talent competitions: for filmmakers up to 13 years and between 14 and 18 years.You can submit your filmshere – we look forward to it!
School Cinema Weeks Hamburg
Just in time for the start of the new school year, SchulKinoWochen Hamburg is offering the first insight into its film program. Once again this year, there will be short and feature-length films for all ages to watchin 21 cinemas from November 18 to 29, 2024!Our short film recommendations for the School Cinema Weeks :
Go to the movies for the first time and watch short films on the big screen! Between October 28 and November 15, it’s that time again. Six short film programs have been put together in collaboration with Mo&Friese and Kurzfilm Verleih Hamburg.
The 3001 Kino offers extra screenings for daycare and preschool groups. All information about booking can be found here.
Our four juries award the prizes for the international competitions Mo, Friese and NEON.
The FRIESE, MO and NEON Jury 2024
The Friese Prize is awarded by 7- to 9-year-old jurors for the programs from 4 and 6 years of age. The Mo Prize goes to a film from the programs for ages 9 and up, chosen by 10 to 13-year-olds. For films aged 12 and over, a jury of young people aged 14 to 18 will award the Neon Prize.
Frieze jury
Marla (8) Liz (8) Milan (9) Henry (9) Mila (8)
Mo-Jury
Leo (10) Nils (10) Louis (10 ) Aimo (11) Eda (10) Clara (12) Sofia (12)
NEON jury
Mieke (15) Michel (14) Frieda (14) Benn (15)
The ECFA Jury 2024
In addition, a three-member adult jury selects a film from the 4+, 6+ and 9+ programs for the ECFA PRIZE of the European Children’s Film Association. The award includes a nomination for the “Best European Film for Young Audiences of the Year” in the short film category.
Eva-Maria
Schneider-Reuter
comes from Berlin. She works as a freelance presenter in cinemas and at festivals, as a film educator in numerous projects throughout Germany and as an author for presentation guides and school materials. In her work with young audiences, she draws on her background as an actress and storyteller. For her, everything begins with the question: What does this have to do with me?
Lisbeth Arto
Juhl Sibbesen
is editor of film education at the Danish Film Institute. Her main focus is to qualify film and media education in kindergartens and schools and increase the knowledge of film as an art form. Lisbeth has also been developing and facilitating courses in film education throughout Denmark for many years and published articles on film education and film analysis.
Lucia Dubravay
Trautenberger
studied cultural management and worked for many years as a cultural editor, interpreter and translator. In 2022 she started working for BIBIANA. Until March 2024 she was the managing director of the International Festival of Animated Films – Biennale of Animation Bratislava. Recently she founded the distribution company Bear With Me Distribution, which focuses on short films for young audiences.
Film language and accessibility
All programs are presented in an age-appropriate manner. Foreign-language short films up to the age of 14 will be presented live in German Language. The competition program from the age of 14 is subtitled in German. We also offer some of our programs with translation into German sign language and audio description. These are marked accordingly.
Accompanying educational material
We offer accompanying educational material for all film blocks in the competition, which can be used to prepare for and follow up on the visit to the cinema in class, covering both the content dealt with in the film and the cinematic aspects. All materials can be downloaded and printed out as PDF files from the end of May as a link to the respective program.
Program schedule and booklet
For an overview of the festival week, you find here the schedule and the booklet.
Accreditation
Accredited professional visitors can get tickets upon presentation of their festival pass. At the ticket counter in the festival centre Post Kaltenkircher Platz and in all festival cinemas (except filmRaum). You can register for the Short Film Festival Hamburg and for the Young Short Film Festival Hamburg Mo&Friese an accreditation here.
Short films (even those for adults) are often dismissed as children’s stuff, as a training platform for their big brother, feature-length films, where students learn their craft. But the short film is much more than just the lean version of the feature-length film! It is a place to experiment, fantasize, try things out or concentrate on a topic with great attention to detail. Because of the relatively low budget, the short form offers great artistic freedom and plenty of room for experimentation. In addition, short films are less standardized than feature-length films, which often have to adhere much more closely to visual or narrative conventions due to financial pressure. The fact that short films are sometimes much more uncomfortable for our (entrenched) viewing habits than feature-length films is a hurdle that is worth overcoming. Although it leaves us alone with our thoughts after a short time and thus limits our deep immersion in the story, it also gives us time for reflection and discussion. This is not only a great advantage for use in schools, but is also immensely important for media reception in general. In addition, short films can move through all genres. Therefore, a short film programme always offers the possibility of direct comparison and contextualization. And this is necessary and beneficial for the development of an understanding of media and for shaping one’s own taste. Short films are therefore extremely suitable for young audiences, as they are often much more receptive to experimental forms and surprises. Last but not least, however, one of the main advantages of short films, especially for younger children, is simply their brevity. Because of the limited attention span of children, short films offer an ideal introduction to the cinema as a new and magical place.
Value Statement
We, the team of Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg and Junges Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg Mo&Friese view our festival as space for artistic freedom and freedom of expression, critical debate and encounters characterised by mutual respect. We consider it our mission to provide everyone with an experience that is as safe and inclusive as possible – free from any form of abusive behaviour or discrimination.
We take a clear stance against all forms of group-based misanthropy, such as ableism, ageism, anti-Muslim hatred, anti-Semitism, discrimination of LGBTQIA+ individuals, classism, racism and sexism, as well as against any and all forms of physical or verbal violence.
We expect ourselves and our guests to approach one another with respect and consideration. We take seriously any incident in which individuals experience discrimination or feel that their personal boundaries have been violated, we listen to those affected and we make great effort to find individual solutions.
In order to implement these values within the festival production process in a sustainable, binding manner, it takes continuous and critical self-reflection on the part of all those involved. We are engaged in a constant learning process, taking in advice and repeatedly adapting our position where necessary. This text offers the possibility for a conscious positioning both internally and externally.
We would also like to draw your attention to the festival’s statement on addressing the effect of the war in Gaza on the national cultural scene.
We look forward to experiencing the festival together with you on this basis.
Participate
In addition to all the great short films that we like to watch with you in the cinema and then talk about, we are always delighted if you would like to take part in Mo&Friese. And there are many different ways to do this.
Every year we need the support of children and young people who rate the films or submit their own short works to us. Perhaps there are also film topics that you would like to get to know a little better? We have a wide range of workshops for this, which we offer not only during the festival week. And if you’d like to give others tips on which films are worth seeing, then you’ve come to the right place as a reporter.
High 5! – WITH DIFFERENT EYES
‘The eyes are the windows of the soul’, said Hildegard von Bingen 1000 years ago! And these windows are as different as the people themselves. Because we all see the world through different eyes, each of us through our own glasses, so to speak. So sometimes it’s worth changing your perspective and thinking about how others see the world.
Perhaps everything that I see as red is blue for my friend … or everything that I find enchanting is completely unappetising for my boyfriend. Sometimes our view of the world changes over time. Things that used to fascinate us are now boring or the other way round. And what actually happens when we close our eyes?
Do you have an idea and would you like to realise it on film? This year’s theme ‘With different eyes’ offers plenty of freedom. So grab a camera and film something about perspectives, eyes, glasses or monocles or whatever comes to mind.
To take part in the Gib Mir 5! young talent film competition, you should submit your maximum 5-minute film to us by mid-March 2025.We offer two young talent competitions: for filmmakers up to 13 years and between 14 and 18 years.
We look forward to seeing your films!
High 5! Time is running
We live in a fast-paced world, one trend chases the next and in the schoolyard there are discussions about who has the latest cell phone model. Maybe sometimes you can’t keep up at school because everything is moving too fast? Or everything around you is slow, but you feel like your mind is racing? Our theme for this year’s HIGH 5! young filmmaker competition was TIME IS RUNNING, giving young filmmakers plenty of freedom to show anything that means something to them .
We will be showing a selection of the submitted films on Sunday, June 9 at the Lampenlager in the Festival Center. The films for filmmakers up to the age of 13 will be shown at 12am, the films for filmmakers between the ages of 14 and 18 as part of HIGH 5! NEON at 3 pm.
HIGH 5! NEON was curated and is presented by a youth jury.
High 5! Sun 9.6. | 12am Festival Centre Lampenlager
High 5! NEON Sun 9.6. | 3 pm Festival Centre Lampenlager
Kurzfilm Agentur Hamburg e.V.
Young Short Film Festival Hamburg
Mo&Friese Bodenstedtstr. 16 | 22765 Hamburg moundfriese@shortfilm.com
Mo&Friese is divided into three age-graded film competitions. A jury decides on the awards for each competition.
The FriesePrize is awardedby jurors between 7 and 9 years old for the programs from 4 and 6 years old.The Mo Prize goes to a film from the program from 9 years old, chosen by 10- to 13-year-olds.For films from 12 and 14 years old, a jury of young people between 14 and 18 years old awards the NEON Prize.
We look forward to receiving jury applications from enthusiastic short film fans by mid-April of each year.
Competition juries for June 2025
If you like to watch a lot of movies – preferably in theaters – and can’t stop talking about them afterwards, then you’ve come to the right place! Because all you need for our jury is a passion for films and time during the festival week. As a member of the children’s or youth jury, you will discuss your cinema experiences with other film fans and decide which films win the prizes. If you are between 7 and 9 years old, you can apply for the jury of the Friese Prize, between 10 and 13 years for the jury of the Mo Prize and between 14 and 18 years for the Neon Prize. As an application, we would be delighted to receive a short text written by yourself. Tell us a bit about yourself and why you would like to be on the jury.
We will get back to you as soon as possible after the application deadline on April 15 .
Prizes in three categories
The Friese Prize is awarded by 7- to 9-year-old jurors for the 4 and 6+ programs. The Mo Prize goes to a film from the 9+ programs selected by 10- to 13-year-olds. For films aged 12+ and 14+, a jury of young people aged 14 to 18 awards the Neon Prize. All prizes of the international competition are endowed with 1000 euros.
In addition to the carefully curated and wide-ranging short film program, Mo&Friese Young Short Film Festival Hamburg offers creative workshops every year that approach the medium of film in very different ways.
Children and young people are invited to become active themselves in small groups. Together with experts from the respective fields, we provide insights into artistic filmmaking behind and in front of the scenes and encourage participants to be creative. The workshops usually take place between April and June. Registration must be made by email by the specified deadline. More detailed information on the currently bookable offers will be announced here in good time
and audio description 
. These are marked accordingly.
