Outstanding cinema in an exceptional setting: As part of the series “Film in the Academy,” the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts (BAFA) presents the winning films of the 2025 Friedrich Baur Gold Award in memoriam Heinz Badewitz. The screenings feature works that celebrated their acclaimed world premieres at the 59th Hof International Hofer Film 2025 (HIFF) and are now being shown in Munich for the first time. Admission is free.
The programme opens on Monday, 19 January 2026, at 7:00 pm with TOEGETHER APART., presented in the presence of filmmaker Alexander Conrads. On Tuesday, 20 January 2026, also at 7:00 pm, PLAN F follows, with director Ina Balon attending in person who also received the Hof Critics Award ‚Best Direction‘. The screenings on both evenings will be introduced by director Hans Steinbichler. Following each screening, filmmaker Dominik Graf, this year’s juror and mentor of the Gold Award, will moderate a discussion with the emerging directors.
Earlier on Monday, 19 January 2026, at 3:30 pm, a digital warm-up will take place: Thorsten Schaumann, Artistic Director of the HIFF, welcomes Ina Balon and Alexander Conrads to his TEA BREAK Talk, live on Instagram @thorstenschaumann.
The Friedrich Baur Gold Award has been awarded since 2018 (formerly Hofer Gold Prize) by the BAFA as part of the HIFF, in memoriam Heinz Badewitz. Endowed with a certified gold bar worth around €35,000, it is Germany’s most highly endowed prize for young directors for a first feature-length film. In addition, the award includes one year of artistic mentoring for the development of a new film project – a sustainable investment in the future of German cinema. The 2025 Friedrich Baur Gold Award was given ex aequo by juror and mentor Dominik Graf to Ina Balon for PLAN F and Alexander Conrad for TOGETHER APART.
In the talk formats LUNCH BREAK and TEA BREAK, streamed live on Instagram, Artistic Director Thorsten Schaumann regularly provides insights, updates and previews of screenings, premieres and further activities of the HoF family, often joined by invited guests.
