Following the promising nominations, the Oscar ceremony felt like a disappointment. For the first time, the Academy had nominated international films such as “Sentimental Value” from Norway and “Secret Agent” from Brazil in the Best Picture category. Yet in the end, it was American productions that walked away with all the awards.
The Angelos Film Award 2026 of the Swedish Church was presented to Julia Thelin's debut film "Mecenaten" (The Patron, Sweden 2026) at its world premiere at the Gothenburg Film Festival on 24 January.
Report by Clara Behnke, member of the Faith in Film Jury
"Little Trouble Girls" by Urška Djukić won the 10th Faith in Film Award at the Tromsø International Film Festival 2026. An Honourable Mention was awarded to "The Little Sister" by Hafsia Herzi.
"Defiant" by director Visa Koiso-Kanttila wins the Prize of the Church Media Foundation in Finland at the International Chidren's and Youth Festival in Oulu 2025.
The FilmFestival Cottbus is one of the most significant international festivals dedicated to contemporary Eastern European cinema. Its three competitive sections feature films, youth films, and short films highlight exceptional talent, bold narratives, and innovative cinematic perspectives. Report by Ágoston Gőbel and Aida Schläpfer Al Hassani.
The Hof Film Festival is now in its 58th year and has become a hallmark of the city, which is why Hof likes to call itself the “Home of Films,” a phrase that is said to have originated with Wim Wenders. In the late 1960s and 1970s, the Munich film scene came to Hof (...). As a nostalgic reminder, this year there was a 35mm screening of Fassbinder's early work “Gods of the Plague”. Peter Paul Huth reports about the festival.
Light is always where a film festival begins. The screen brightens, faces glow, and for a moment the whole room shares the same pulse. That is what I felt as the Adelaide Film Festival opened with Jimpa (Sophie Hyde, Australia, Netherlands, Finland, 2025) — a film full of truth, heart, and soul. Festival report by Eloise Scherer
Mit einem jungen neuen Team unter der Leitung von Joanna Szymańska-Szcześniak und dem Programmdirektor Bartłomiej Pulcyn startete das Warschauer Filmfestival bei seiner 41. Ausgabe in gleich acht verschiedenen Spielstätten., so Holger Twele, Miglied der Ökumenischen Jury in Warschau 2025, in seinem Bericht.
Land of A Thousand and One Nights and Persian poetry, Iran has turned cinema into the art of suggestion: when speech is monitored, the image becomes a poem and editing a figure of style.
Dossier
The lists in this dossier summarize the church film awards of past years.