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Submit screenplays for the German Screenplay Award

Has your screenplay been nominated for the German Screenplay Award by an authorized institution? Then you can submit your screenplay under certain conditions.

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Procedure details

The Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) awards the German Screenplay Award annually. The German Screenplay Award jury nominates up to 3 screenplays for the German Screenplay Award each year.

You can submit a screenplay nominated for the German Screenplay Award by an eligible institution online to the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM).

Authorized institutions are

  • Film funding organizations of the federal states
  • German Federal Film Board (FFA)
  • Board of Trustees for Young German Film
  • Drama Department of the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM)
  • German Screenplay Association (DDV)
  • Association of German Stage and Media Publishers (VDB)
  • Association for Film and Television Dramaturgy (VeDRA)
  • Association of Agencies for Film, Television and Theater e.V. (VdA)

The K 35 department at the BKM also requests proposals for the German Screenplay Award from the authorized institutions.

Based on the proposals submitted, the authors receive feedback from the BKM in order to participate in the process.

Screenplays nominated by the German Screenplay Award jury receive a prize of EUR 5,000.

The best screenplay will be

  • awarded the German Screenplay Award in Gold and
  • a prize of EUR 10,000.

The prize is awarded to the author of the screenplay.

Award-winning authors can also apply for additional funding of up to EUR 20,000 for the further development of the award-winning screenplay, for project development or for the production of a new screenplay of artistic quality.

Information on other funding programs can be found on the website of the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM).

  • the screenplay must have been completed in the 2 calendar years prior to the award ceremony
  • filming of the screenplay may not begin before the year in which the award is presented
  • the screenplay must not have been nominated for the German Screenplay Award in the past
  • the screenplay must be allowed to be shown to the jury
  • the author must have a permanent residence in Germany
  • the screenplay must be written in German
  • only screenplays for feature films can be submitted
  • the screenplay must have been recommended to the BKM by a nominating institution

  • Required Documents

    For the application you must submit

    • Anonymized, current version of your screenplay with title page in German (without authorship details)
    • Anonymized, maximum two-page information sheet without authorship details, consisting of
      • a short synopsis,
      • an overview of the time and place of the plot and
      • a concise characterization of the protagonists
    • Separate document with
      • names,
      • contact details
      • Proposing institution
      • Details of the production company, if applicable
      • Director, if applicable
      • planned start of shooting, if applicable
      • Funded by which institution, if applicable
      • Period of funding, if applicable
    • a signed copy of the information sheet sent to you by the BKM
    • CV of the author

    if applicable, a literary draft (excerpts) if it is an adaptation of a novel.

You must submit your screenplay for the German Screenplay Award online to the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM):

  • Go to the website of the federal portal verwaltung.bund.de and fill out the application form electronically.
  • You will need an electronic ID document for the online application:
    • Online ID card or
    • personal Elster certificate

Further procedural steps:

  • Submissions are checked for formal admissibility by the BKM.
  • The German Screenplay Award jury discusses the submitted book proposals.
  • The BKM decides on the awards based on the jury's recommendation.
  • The nominations are announced in a press release, by post and by e-mail.
  • You will then receive an invitation to the award ceremony by e-mail.
  • The BKM will announce the winner at an award ceremony in February.
  • During the award ceremony, the author of the screenplay will be presented with the award.

none

  • Scripts must be submitted by mid-July of each year
  • The deadlines are announced on the website of the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM).
  • Authors whose screenplays have been nominated by institutions entitled to nominate them will be notified of the submission deadline in a letter from the BKM.

7 Monate

  • Administrative court action in the event of non-admission to the competition

Status: 14.03.2025
Editorially responsible for prodecure description: Der Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien
Source: Federal Portal