Dear audience, dear exground team,

What would Wiesbaden’s November cultural calendar be without an exground filmfest? Certainly, quite a bit poorer – and definitely less diverse! That is why I am even happier, along with all other film fans, that exground filmfest is once again able to take place in front of a live audience in its venues this year, after the online edition of 2020.

However, the possibility to have in-person events does not mean that the screens at home will remain blank – the organisational team also made hybrid plans for 2021. As a result, a large part of the programme will once again be available online.

Either way, we can look forward to a wide-ranging cinema experience: The multi-faceted film programme offers over 150 short and feature-length films in the sections European Cinema, World Cinema, Made in Germany and Shorts, including cinematic offerings from the Country Focus USA and the beloved competition series which made it into the programme.

The State Capitol of Wiesbaden has accompanied and supported exground filmfest since the beginning – starting out with smaller sums, but for years now with substantial subsidies as well, through institutional funding. In addition, we sponsor cash prizes in the German Short Film and youth film sections.

Speaking of “youth” – with our support of “exground youth days”, we send a strong signal regarding the great significance we ascribe to the critical examination of media by young people, in particular film. In an era of fake news and the sheerly infinite number of moving pictures online, this discussion is more important than ever. That is also why we appreciate so much that exground filmfest offers a local youth jury the chance to discuss the competition films under the guidance of an experienced media educator, and thus strengthen their media competence.

I wish all of the guests inspiring hours in the cinema and in front of their screens at home, and, of course, I would like to wish the festival team a successful exground filmfest 34.

Axel Imholz

Head of the Cultural Department of the State Capitol of Wiesbaden