In addition to the young federation of German film festivals working under the name AG Filmfestival at the federal level, a number of interest groups such as Queerscope have previously also networked at the state level to strengthen film festivals in many areas and enable them to have a stronger voice in politics. For example, the Hessian film festivals already initiated a network, that of mutual support, 20 years ago. Docked at the Film- und Kinobüro Hessen from the beginning, the network of Hessian film festivals is a platform for representing the interests of many film festivals in Hessen. From the Youth Media Festival, the Visionale, the Workshop of the Young Film Scene, to LUCAS – the International Film Festival for Young Film Fans, to the festivals with country focuses such as Cuba in Film, Nippon Connection and the goEast, to the LICHTER Filmfest Frankfurt International, the Kassel Dokfest or the satirical Rüsselsheim Film Festival, there are over 20 film festivals in the association, including exground filmfest as one of the founding members. Another core topic of the association is film policy. The work of the Hessian festivals have been extremely successful in recent years and have succeeded in tripling their funding. Currently, the Hessian festivals are working intensively with the Film and Cinema Office on future issues such as sustainability and are looking for efficient and joint solutions.