The OpenEyes Filmfest is an international open-air film festival in Marburg an der Lahn.
The latest national and international short films are screened in the audience competition in various categories, with an annually changing focus theme providing a thematic framework for the competition program. A special focus of the festival is on exploring the limits and potential of cinematic forms of expression and on promoting undiscovered talent. The festival presents many films that have not yet had a festival screening and also offers a platform for local filmmaking.
Through cooperation with various universities and its own seminars, for example at the Philipps University of Marburg, the festival is committed to promoting young talent at the level of film and festival work. In addition, the festival is dedicated to the sustainable strengthening of film-cultural structures outside of major cities. The production of audio versions and subtitling of the competition films, as well as the conceptual inclusion of people with different backgrounds in the film selection, are central elements of the festival’s inclusive approach. The festival aims to actively promote accessibility to the film industry.
In 2025, the festival is held at the Capitol cinema and at the Schlossparkbühne in Marburg. A large part of the festival takes place open-air. The indoor venue is the theater hall there. Other venues on the site will also be integrated into the festival for the events of the supporting program. Management, curation and organization are carried out by a full-time team and supported by volunteers. The festival is largely financed by funding from Hessen Film und Medien GmbH, the University City of Marburg as well as its income and supporters.
Since 2020, the supporting association has been the Verein zur Förderung der Filmkultur in Marburg e. V. The OpenEyes Filmfest is a member of the ‘Verbund der hessischen Filmfestivals’ and the nationwide ‘AG Filmfestival’.
All selected films are shown in the international competition (audience competition).
Excluded from this are special screenings such as retrospectives, collaborations or similar as well as the films of the open screen. The competition films are honored in various categories, as a rule these are Feature Film, Documentary Film, Experimental Film, Music Video and Animated Film. Awards are not endowed. The entire film program is divided into approximately 14 to 25 film blocks over a period of four or five days.
The competition program is selected from international film submissions; on average, around 1000-1500 films are submitted each year. Submitted films must not be older than one year, or not older than two years if they have not yet had a festival screening in Germany. Submission via the festival’s own submission platform is free of charge. The submission phase begins in January and ends in April of the festival year.
The festival has developed its own film database as a registration and submission platform, film archive and program creation tool. It makes the contents of the database available to external organizations and individuals for research purposes. The archive contains around 11,000 short films [as of 2024]. Many films have their German, European or world premiere at the festival. A large number of the films are represented at the festival by the filmmakers themselves.
The screening process is carried out by around 65 people, including 20-25 students from our own project seminars. Interested parties can apply to take part in the screening process on a voluntary basis. This process is divided into several phases, which are supported by training courses and tutorials. The final program curation is carried out by the festival management together with experts whose composition changes regularly.
80 to 120 films are selected for the festival each year. The maximum film length is 30 minutes. There are no thematic or content-related guidelines, but the festival places particular emphasis on films that are generally underrepresented due to their subject matter or production circumstances.
By personally inviting the filmmakers each year, the OpenEyes team encourages contact with the directors and thus creates a forum for exchanging ideas and getting to know each other. The filmmakers comment on their films before or after the screenings and are also available and approachable during the festival or at the filmmakers’ breakfast.
From 1994 to 2006, the open-air festival took place at the Amöneburg castle ruins. Between 2007 and 2009, the venue was moved to the New Botanical Garden in Marburg.
From 2010 to 2019, the film festival then took place on the site of the old gasworks (g-Werk) in Marburg, where the cultural center of the former sponsoring association Café Trauma is also located. The indoor screenings were also held there. In 2021, it took place in a parking lot directly adjacent to the cultural center due to the increased requirements for hygiene measures in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2023 and 2024, all festival events took place on the grounds of the ‘Waggonhalle’ cultural center in Marburg. Special screenings outside of the festival were held for the first time in 2023 in cooperation with Marburg cinemas.
This cooperation was further expanded in 2025 when the 30th OpenEyes Filmfest took place in cooperation with the Capitol Filmkunsttheater Marburg at the Schlossparkbühne and in the Capitol itself.
The work and organization of the film festival is divided into different areas: The screening group, the practical seminar and the actual organization team. External freelancers also provide support in various areas.
The organization team is made up of full-time festival and organization management, interns and volunteers. A high degree of personal responsibility in the organizational sub-areas and regular coordination characterize the working methods, while the audio description of the festival films is implemented by a separate team that was trained for this purpose as part of the festival.
The overall graphic concept of the festival has been advertised annually throughout Germany since 2011 – primarily at art and design colleges – and is awarded anew each year.
Since 2010, students from the Philipps University of Marburg have supported the festival every year as part of a seminar in the areas of guest support, social media, trailer and content creation, logistics and site design, as well as in the implementation of the student project ‘Film Cabinet’. The festival also provides an annual platform for further teaching purposes (e.g. logo development, festival curation, archiving)
1994
Under the name “Central Hesse Amateur Film Festival”, the OpenEyes Filmfest takes place for the first time with two nightly open-air screenings at the Amöneburg castle ruins, organized by the socio-cultural center Café Trauma.
1996
Two years after its foundation, the concept of the ‘Amateur Film Festival’ is initially changed with the introduction of the name “OpenEyes Filmfest”. Competitions in the categories “university film” and “non-university film” are introduced, expanding the films shown beyond “Central Hesse” and “amateur”.
2007
The OpenEyes Film Festival takes from now on place at the New Botanical Garden in Marburg.
2010
The OpenEyes Film Festival is relocating to the old gasworks site of the g-Werks in Marburg.
The ‘Film Cabinet’ is established as an additional format to the main program under the name ‘Garage Cinema’ (‘Garagenkino’) and has since been dedicated primarily to amateur short films.
The OpenEyes Filmfest offers a project seminar for students of the B.A. Media Studies and B.A. Art, Music and Media: Organization and Communication at the Philipps University of Marburg for the first time, which deals with the planning, financing, organization and implementation of a film festival that has been offered every year since then.
2011
The categories of the audience awards ‘University Film’ and ‘Non-University Film’ will be changed, from now on the audience will judge the short films in the categories ‘Feature Film’, ‘Documentary Film’, ‘Animated Film’ and ‘Experimental Film/Music Video’.
The festival begins to tender and award the corporate design annually.
2013
The festival catalogs the submissions for the first time, indexes them and begins archiving them. In addition, the festival participates in various working groups to establish networks, promote young talent and festival work.
2011-2019
Under the title ‘OpenEyes Filmfest – The Series’, the film festival shows monthly, moderated short film compilations from its own archive on thematic, technical or aesthetic focal points
2020
Cancellation of the festival due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The organization team of the OpenEyes Filmfest establishes its own supporting association ‘Verein zur Förderung der Filmkultur in Marburg e.V.’, which is intended to provide special support for regional film culture.
2021
The OpenEyes Film Festival is from now on being organized by the newly established ‘Förderung der Filmkultur in Marburg e.V.’ (Association for the Promotion of Film Culture in Marburg e.V.)
Due to the increased requirements for hygiene measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film festival takes place on a parking lot directly adjacent to the cultural center.
In connection with a project funded by Aktion Mensch and in cooperation with the Deutsche Blindenstudienanstalt (German Institute for the Blind) and the AG Sprechwissenschaft (Speech Science Working Group) of Philipps University, audio descriptions for a selection of festival films are being produced for the first time. This project is further supported by the Heidehof Foundation in 2023.
The festival participates in the STEP program of Hessen Film und Medien for the promotion of young talent in festival work.
2023
The film festival is now being organized by a full-time team and takes place for the first time on the entire grounds of the ‘Waggonhalle’ cultural center.
2025
On the occasion of the anniversary, the 30th edition of the OpenEyes Film Festival takes place in cooperation with the art house cinema Capitol Marburg, both on the Schlossparkbühne and in the Capitol Marburg cinema.