About

In 2005, a young film enthusiast and his school friends founded a film group called Schwarzwald-Film in Freiburg, Germany. Of course the name had to be in English, because the friends would one day make films in Hollywood. However, as the young film enthusiast didn't know any English yet, the group wasn't named "Blackforest Films", but has since then been called "Blackwood Films". And Blackwood Films has not only made numerous films, friendships and contacts possible, but since 2019 the group hosts an annual event – the Blackwood Film Festival! Here we celebrate filmmaking and film watching and want to give the Freiburg film scene a place and possibility to network.

2023 saw the launch of our "Freiburg Short Film Festival - the Blackwood Film Festival", where we welcomed films from all over the German-speaking world for the first time and filmmakers from all over Germany, Austria and Switzerland came to us in the Black Forest. After the spectacular Kurzfilmsause 2024 with prominent guests such as short film legend and Oscar winner Pepe Danquart, our festival is entering its third round in its current form this year. Again with networking opportunities, exciting film programs, film talks, workshops and, of course, another fancy after-show party - it's going to be a blast!

Awards

**Like last year, we again have various prizes in different categories and award different amounts of prize money.

Films invited to the festival automatically participate in the competition for selected awards and prizes. Click here to see last year's awards.

Rules & Terms

Rules short and sweet:
max. 20 min, not older than 2 years, have some kind of connection to Germany, Austria or Switzerland (location, place of production, director comes from one of the countries), film must not be publicly accessible

You can't submit even though your film fits the criteria?
Due to the large number of submissions that do not match our submission criteria in any way and make our screening process very confusing, we unfortunately have to limit submissions via Filmfreeway to the three countries mentioned above this year. If you have the feeling that your film still fits in, e.g. because you are an Austrian director but shot your film in Mexico, you can simply send us your film with all the information you also have to provide on Filmfreeway (synopsis etc.) by email: kurzfilmsause.blackwood-films@protonmail.com

Detailed rules:
**Before submitting a film (length, country, number, genre):
1. All films produced in Germany, Austria or Switzerland can be submitted.
2. If the language of the film isn't German, German (or at least English) subtitles are desirable.
3. Submitted films should not exceed a total length of 20 minutes (including credits). We cannot guarantee that we will consider films longer than 20 minutes.
4. The completion date of the submitted film must be no earlier than March 2023. Films completed before 2023 will not be considered. In addition, submitted films must not be freely accessible on the internet and/or have already had a cinema premiere (e.g. as a supporting film) and/or a television broadcast. The only exception is music videos! If a music video has already been released, it will only be shown out of competition. Submitted films may, of course, have been screened at other film festivals.
5. Per director a maximum of two entries may be submitted.
6. There are some exceptions for regional films (Freiburg and Black Forest). Please submit these films in the appropriate category. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us by email.
7. There are no genre restrictions. We welcome all films, including music videos and spec spots! Only commercials and image films that were created on behalf of a client are excluded from submission. For music videos (as for short films), the rights to the songs must be held by the person submitting the film.**

After the submission (what if my film is shown at your festival?):
1. If your film is invited to the short film festival, additional information is required, including film stills, a crew and cast list etc.
2. We very much welcome participants to travel to the festival. Therefore, we will of course try to find accommodation and offer free tickets for all festival events. We will let you know by 26 August 2025 whether your film will be part of the short film party, or not.
3. We prefer DCPs as a screening format. Alternatively, we accept films in the best possible quality as .mp4 or .mov format. Ideally, it should be possible to download the file with your submission. Postal submissions can generally not be considered.

Rights and licences
1. Unfortunately we cannot offer a screening fee. However, submission via FilmFreeway is free of charge.
2. The submitter transfers the rights for the screening of the film (one to two screenings) to the Kurzfilmsause Freiburg, the Blackwood Filmfestival, for the festival period from 17 to 19 October 2025. The festival is authorised to use film stills and excerpts of the film in advance for press and promotional purposes. In addition, Blackwood Films e.V. is entitled to show the films one more time after October 19 as part of a post-screening. This post-screening would take place within four weeks after 19.10.25 and is considered part of the festival.
3. We welcome filmmakers, professionals, film enthusiasts and press representatives to our Short Film Party in order to facilitate an interdisciplinary exchange.
4. Invitations and rejections will be communicated via FilmFreeway.
5. The transport of film copies will take place exclusively via digital channels. Should costs arise here, the submitting person must bear the costs in full. We therefore recommend transmission via free portals.
6. Submitters are obliged to obtain the consent of all third parties involved in the production for the screening of the film at the festival.
7. The submitter is responsible for clarifying the necessary rights in time. By participating in the festival, the submitter guarantees the festival organisers that the film is free of third party rights and indemnifies the organisers from third party claims. If it turns out before the award ceremony that a prize-winner does not have the necessary rights, the competition entries in question will be immediately excluded from further competition. If this only becomes apparent after the award ceremony, the prize and the prize money will be withdrawn retrospectively.
8. All submitted films and data will be archived for internal purposes only. Data and viewing links will not be passed on to third parties.
9. We reserve the right to make changes. Recourse to the courts is not permitted.
10. This is a short summary of the most important information about the Kurzfilmsause Freiburg. If you have any questions or would like to see a complete list of our "Rules & Terms", please feel free to send us an email.**

Throwback kurzfilmsause 2024 & 2023