Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis

What Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis does

Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis is a non-profit film festival organization headquartered in Saarbrücken, Saarland, Germany, operating as Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis gGmbH under the municipal oversight of Landeshauptstadt Saarbrücken. The festival has run 47 editions since its first edition in 1979/1980 and is dedicated to promoting emerging German-language film talent from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and other German-speaking regions. It serves four primary customer segments: film enthusiasts and general public audiences, emerging German-language filmmakers, film industry professionals attending the MOP-Industry program, and accredited press/media.

The festival's core product is a one-week annual January event featuring four competition categories (feature film, documentary, medium-length film, short film), complemented by special sections including Watchlist, Diskurze & Carte Blanche, SaarLorLux, MOP-Serien, Hommage tributes to Max and Marcel Ophüls, SR-Tatort collaborations, a children's and youth program, and the MOP-Industry professional program. Supporting infrastructure includes a searchable Filmarchiv, festival passes and vouchers, and accessibility features (Greta & Starks audio description/subtitles, wheelchair-accessible venues, mobisaar escorted transport). The 48th edition introduces the Miralot submission platform. Technology is built on third-party SaaS integrations: vivenu for ticketing, rapidmail for newsletters, etracker for web analytics, ReadSpeaker for text-to-speech, and SaarConnect for web development.

Revenue is diversified across four streams: ticket sales (vivenu platform), corporate sponsorships and advertising, individual festival patronage (Patenschaften), and government funding from Landeshauptstadt Saarbrücken, Saarland state ministries, and the federal Beauftragter der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien. The 47th edition (January 2026) recorded 36,168 visits across cinemas, MOP-Industry events, and the festival club Lolas Bistro, and awarded 19 trophies. The organization is led by co-managing directors Svenja Böttger (Festival Director) and Dr. Sabine Dengel, with Mayor Uwe Conradt chairing the supervisory board. No revenue, funding rounds, or detailed financial figures are publicly disclosed.

Name

Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis

Legal name

Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis gGmbH

Website

https://ffmop.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1979

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis is a non-profit annual German-language film festival in Saarbrücken, Germany, operating since 1979/1980 to promote emerging filmmakers from German-speaking regions through competitions, industry programs, and accessible screenings for public, industry, and press audiences.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Saarbrücken

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Ticket Sales: Festival passes, individual screenings, and event tickets sold through the official ticket platform
2. Sponsorships and Partnerships: Corporate sponsors support the festival through sponsoring packages and advertising at festival venues
3. Festival Patronage (Patenschaften): Individual patrons support the festival through dedicated patronage programs
4. Government Funding: Supported by public institutions including Landeshauptstadt Saarbrücken, federal and state film funding bodies

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis is an annual one-week film festival held every January in Saarbrücken, Germany, dedicated to discovering and promoting emerging German-language film talent. The festival operates four core competitions (feature film, documentary, medium-length film, short film) along with side programs, tributes, children's/youth screenings, and the MOP-Industry professional program, awarding 19 trophies to winners. Customers can purchase festival passes, individual screening tickets, and gift vouchers, while filmmakers submit works through the Miralot platform.

Product overview

The Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis is an annual film festival in Saarbrücken, Germany, dedicated to discovering and promoting German-language talent film. The festival operates a unified platform across both ffmop.de and tickets.ffmop.de, offering a multi-section program centered on four core film competitions: Wettbewerb Spielfilm (Feature Film), Wettbewerb Dokumentarfilm (Documentary), Wettbewerb Mittellanger Film (Medium-Length Film), and Wettbewerb Kurzfilm (Short Film). The program is complemented by special sections including Watchlist, Diskurze & Carte Blanche, SaarLorLux, MOP-Serien, Hommage tributes, SR-Tatort collaborations, and a children's/youth program. Supporting the festival are the MOP-Industry professional program, a Filmarchiv searchable archive, and a ticketing platform for passes, vouchers, and individual screenings. Accessibility features include Greta & Starks audio description and subtitling for selected films, wheelchair-accessible cinemas, and free accessible shuttle buses. The 47th edition (2026) attracted 36,168 visits across cinemas, MOP-Industry events, and the festival club.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• MOP-Industry: Industry section of the festival for film professionals, networking and professional development events
• Lolas Bistro
• Watchlist

Products and services

• Miralot Submission Platform
• Festivalpässe & Gutscheine (Festival Passes & Vouchers)

Quantifiable outcome

• 36,168 total visits during 47th edition
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and flagship.

• Greta & StarkscoreTechnology or IntegrationAccessibility technology partnership providing audio description for visually impaired and special subtitling for hearing-impaired audiences through a dedicated app. Festival creates accessibility files for selected films during festival period. End devices available for loan at CineStar infocounter.
• mobisaarminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFree escort service for mobility-restricted individuals using public transport in Saarland. mobisaar staff accompany users to and from festival venues. Service available in Regionalverband Saarbrücken, Saarpfalz-Kreis, and Landkreise Neunkirchen and Saarlouis.
• vivenu GmbHcoreTechnology or IntegrationTicket service provider for festival ticket sales, accreditation management, and event ticketing infrastructure. Provides the digital ticketing platform at tickets.ffmop.de.
• Landeshauptstadt SaarbrückenflagshipGTM or Marketing PartnerPrimary municipal sponsor and host city. Festival operates as a cultural event of the city. City logo appears on festival materials and website. Oberbürgermeister (Mayor) Uwe Conradt opens the festival.
• Ministerium für Arbeit, Soziales, Frauen und Gesundheit (Saarland)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerState ministry providing funding support for accessibility offerings at the festival.
• Ministerium für Wirtschaft, Arbeit, Energie und Verkehr SaarlandcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerState ministry providing financial support for the mobisaar accessibility escort service.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves12 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Ludwigsburg Film Festival: Ludwigsburg Film Festival is a German regional festival focused on emerging filmmakers and film school productions, with a smaller scale than Max Ophüls Preis. It is comparable in mission and regional-festival positioning, often drawing from the same pool of film school graduates.

Direct peers

• DOK Leipzig: DOK Leipzig is Germany's leading documentary film festival with competitions, industry programs, and an annual festival week. It directly competes with the Wettbewerb Dokumentarfilm section of Max Ophüls Preis for documentary submissions and industry attention.
• Filmfestival Cottbus: Filmfestival Cottbus is a German festival specializing in Eastern and Central European cinema with competition sections, industry programming, and an audience award format. It shares the regional festival model and the emerging-talent screening focus with Max Ophüls Preis.
• Bundesfestival junger Film: Bundesfestival junger Film is a German national festival for young filmmakers that already partners with Max Ophüls Preis as a guest program. It is comparable in mission — promoting emerging German-language talent — and competes for the same filmmaker submissions.
• Hofer Filmtage: Hofer Filmtage is another German regional film festival dedicated to promoting German-language film talent, with a similar focus on emerging filmmakers and competition-driven programming. It competes directly for German-language submissions, industry attention, and audience share.
• Internationales Kurzfilmfestival Oberhausen: Internationales Kurzfilmfestival Oberhausen is one of the world's oldest short film festivals, with competitions across multiple short film formats and an industry program. It directly competes with Max Ophüls Preis's Wettbewerb Kurzfilm and Wettbewerb Mittellanger Film.
• Internationales Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg: Internationales Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg is a long-running German festival with a strong international profile and competition sections for emerging directors. It targets a similar filmmaker talent pool as Max Ophüls Preis and competes for industry and audience attention.
• Filmfest Hamburg: Filmfest Hamburg is an annual German film festival featuring German and international productions, with industry sections, audience competitions, and a comparable format to Max Ophüls Preis. It competes for industry professionals and corporate sponsors in the German market.
• Filmfest München: Filmfest München is a major German film festival focused on contemporary cinema with competition sections, retrospectives, and industry events. It serves a similar filmmaker and industry audience as Max Ophüls Preis, particularly for emerging German-language talent.

Broad incumbents

• Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Berlinale): The Berlinale is Germany's flagship international film festival, attracting global cinema professionals, press, and audiences. While much larger in scope, it overlaps with Max Ophüls Preis in screening German-language talent films and hosting industry networking events, making it the dominant comparable in the German festival landscape.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/maxophuelspreis
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCc_3Xl7suYz7h1nzGjoGyhQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/FilmfestivalMaxOphuelsPreis
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/filmfestival-max-ophuels-preis
• Instagraminstagram.com/filmfestival_maxophuelspreis

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis