Film Review Group

Click here to browse through all our film reviews.

About Us

2019 marks our 25th anniversary! Known as the Film Group, a varying pool of journalists attend press screenings upon invitation from film distributors to Hamburg media journalists, usually 6-8 weeks before a film opens in local cinemas. Following the screenings, we write film reviews and film-related articles in English; occasionally, we are invited to actors and directors interviews and photo shoots. Reviews appear in Currents, the Hamburg Guide—a publication for tourists and locals, KinoCritics.com, and the AWCH website. In addition, writing workshops have been organized, as well as our contributing to and attending private screenings in Hamburg.

As a semi-professional, self-supporting, and financially self-sufficient group, participation at screenings, and film festivals as an accredited journalist is self-financed. International Film festivals we cover as accredited journalists include: Hamburg festivals include Filmfest Hamburg /Michel, and KurzFilm Festival/Mo&Friese, Berlinale (Berlin), Sundance (USA), Festival de Cannes (France), BFI London (UK), Tribeca (USA) to name a few. Thrice yearly, the group writes and publishes a special film festival Currents.

Two Mandatory Requirements to be in the Film Group are: Submit one review every six months—two a year, and be an AWCH member. We demonstrate a high degree of professionalism, and the yearly websites statistics—KinoCritics.com, awchamburg.org—confirm our reviews impact a global audience.

Fun activities the group enjoy are: annual Oscar® party, spring tea, and typically a dinner. Generally, spontaneous get-togethers occur; proofreading the special film festival issues provides people a chance to meet up, too.

Interested in the art of cinema? Being a Film Group member offers you the opportunity to develop additional skill sets to widen professional horizons, get to know other club members better and meet nice local residents. Come join us!

Reviews

 KinoCritics.com is a database launched in 2003 that covers film reviews, and Hamburg and international film festival articles, interviews and reviews.

Some of our favorite websites:

• The Internet Movie Database: The original source for everything you want to know about your favorite films.
• Rotten Tomatoes: Rates overall popularity of films with links to a variety of reviews.
• Filmfest Hamburg: Annual film festival typically late September/early October, with Michel Kinder & Jugend children’s festival – bilingual website
• Kurzfilm Fesival: Worldwide among top five short film festivals held every June, with Mo&Fries children’s festival – bilingual website: https://festival.shortfilm.com/
• Spielfilm: German language film information and reviews.
• Moviepilot: German language film information and reviews: https://www.moviepilot.de/
• Filmstarts: German language listings of films opening or playing in Hamburg, film news, and an extensive archive.
• vdfkino: VDK Filmverleiher e.V.: Kinostarttermine, Open Air-Kinos, die Rechtslage bei öffentlichen Filmvorführungen und vieles mehr: https://www.vdfkino.de/
• Cinetechnik Filmgarten: Over a thousand movie titles to rent near Hamburg University on Grindelallee.

Questions?

Contact us at: filmgroup@awchamburg.org