The history of German film festivals in the context of the film industry and the cinema landscape is still neither documented nor systematically reviewed. Rather, it has become apparent that even the film funding agencies of the federal states, the ministries of culture and even the Federal Statistical Office, no longer have any data or historical publications, especially from the period before the turn of the millennium.

This highlights the great desideratum and the necessity of a historical reappraisal of the development of the German film festival landscape. There is a great urgency for such a project. Because of the poor data situation, it is essential to reconstruct the history of German film festivals and thus of German cinema culture in a timely manner, also with the help of contemporary witnesses, otherwise it will remain hidden forever.