The 60th Hof International Film Festival got off to a spectacular start on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, with two world premieres: the short film CHÉRI ON TOP by Liselotte Séchet, followed by ZOEY & BEN by Alexander Conrads.
Following a digital welcome address by Dr. Florian Herrmann, Bavarian State Minister for Federal Affairs and Media, and a retrospective celebrating 60 years of the Hof International Film Festival, Festival Director Thorsten Schaumann welcomed the audience and officially opened this anniversary edition. Under this year’s motto, “Kino ist Leben. You are the Story. Leave a Spark” (“Cinema Is Life. You Are the Story. Leave a Spark”), the festival once again puts the people and stories that make cinema so special at the heart of its program.
Liselotte Séchet’s short film CHÉRI ON TOP tells the story of a gender reveal party that takes a chaotic turn when the expectant father shows up. With ZOEY & BEN, Alexander Conrads, winner of the 2025 Friedrich Baur Award, returns to Hof for the second year in a row. This long-term cinematic project follows a full-time father and his daughter, who was nine years old when filming began, over a period of ten years.
Demand for tickets to the opening screenings was overwhelming, with the premieres taking place in five cinemas, all of them sold out. With nearly 1,000 people in attendance, the cinemas were packed to capacity. Following the screenings, both film teams were greeted with enthusiastic cheers and applause.
The audience included many emerging filmmakers as well as familiar faces and longtime friends of the festival. Among those in attendance were directors Anca Miruna Lǎzǎrescu, Léa Pool, Connie Walther, Sönke Wortmann, Johann Buchholz, Peter Goedel, and Josef Rödl, as well as Stefan Schmalfuß, Mayor of the City of Hof, and Dr. Oliver Bär, District Administrator of the Hof district.
The celebrations continued well into the night in the hall of the festival center at the Bürgergesellschaft.
The 60th Hof International Film Festival runs until October 25, 2026. After the festival, many of the films will be available online via video-on-demand until November 1, 2026. The festival presents a total of approximately 136 feature films, documentaries, and short films.