A hot summer in Munich inevitably involves two locations: the Isar River and the Filmfest. Both of these are refreshing when you immerse yourself in them. Motivated by this connection, the festival has updated its design concept. The new festival design is inspired by water and its motion, reflecting the city’s joie de vivre and FILMFEST MÜNCHEN’s aim of constantly inspiring, captivating, and astonishing its audience.

The newly designed trophy, the CineWave, will be presented for the first time in the 2024 competitions. It was designed by Christian Hundertmark and Noëm Held at the C100 design studio. This handcrafted award — created by Paul Assmann and Fritz Voigt-Müller (zzak collective of young artisans) — symbolizes not only Munich’s waterway, but also the waves that the Filmfest and its award-winners are making in the arts. The award also suggests a movie screen in motion, as it is a metal plate bent around a core.

Photo: Bojan Ritan

Matching the new CineWave award design, the festival’s future color scheme will be based on strong shades of blue and green. In the 2024 motif, these flow together seamlessly like the various currents in the history of filmmaking. FILMFEST MÜNCHEN and the C100 design studio, with whom the festival has been creating its look since 2023, have brought PPPANIK on board, an artist whose inimitable generative effects add even more motion. When applied to a variety of contexts, this abstract-looking motif will bridge the gap between digital and printed media in a riveting way, becoming immediately recognizable.

PPPANIK is a non-binary artist based in Berlin and Munich whose work deals with queer perspectives and the dialogue between nature and new technologies. Through generative work processes, the artist combines natural forms and motion to create a new aesthetic.

In addition to creating art, PPPANIK gives tutorials about generative art on YouTube and is actively engaged in replacing the lack of representation and accessibility in the cis-heteronormative-dominated world of technology with a commitment to community and mutual support.

Picture: PPPANIK

As someone who was born and raised in Munich, and a movie buff who has attended the Filmfest several times as a private individual, I’m especially honored to play a part in developing the motif for this year’s festival.

The entire Filmfest team is proud to usher in the summer with this fresh and cheery motif and is especially looking forward to the 41st edition of the festival, which will be held throughout the city from June 28 to July 7.

Invited guests will be able to take in the festival’s new look at the Opening Gala at the Gasteig HP8 on Saturday evening, while the public and the industry will be welcomed cordially to FILMFEST MÜNCHEN during the day on Friday and Saturday and throughout the following week.