Dear film lovers,
Fresh and full of hope from the spontaneously convened rail strike crisis meeting, we would like to send you the last important information before the start of the 50th Wuerzburg International Film Festivalon Thursday, January 25 (until January 28).
First of all – the subject of the rail strike (the train drivers’ union GDL is once again calling on its members to go on strike from Wednesday, January 24): We have already secured a solution for most of our film guests to arrive safely in Wuerzburg – including Axel Prahl and Marcus H. Rosenmüller. Some are changing to cars, many to coaches, others are being picked up by chartered minibuses from nearby airports by Filmini members. There are only a few cases where there is still no satisfactory solution – we are staying on top of this. We ask all film fans present for their understanding in the event of any unavoidable cancellations.
While the trains are at a standstill on Wednesday, January 24, the movie weekend is getting underway. Between 5 and 8 pm, the telephone lines on 0931 / 780 23 888 will be open for reservations for the first time. Online reservations will also start at 5 pm at www.filmwochenende.de and will be active until the end of the festival. Reserved tickets must be purchased at the box office in the Maschinenhaus no later than 30 minutes before the start of the film. Otherwise they will go back on sale, for which there is an express box office.
Tickets can be purchased from Thursday, January 25, 2 pm – in the Maschinenhaus and, new: also online via the FiWo website. In 2024, payment will only be possible online by credit card and on site by EC card and cash. Accordingly, in addition to paper tickets, digital tickets will also be available for the first time, which can be scanned on smartphones or printed out in front of the cinemas.
Due to the sometimes drastic increase in film screening rights in recent years, FiWo will now also have to increase ticket prices – by one euro to 8.50 euros. The silent film matinee on Sunday morning at 11 am will cost 16 euros, the home-made films (Thursday, 5 pm) will cost 4 euros, and children will also pay 4 euros for the children’s films (“Sowas von super” and “Paulas Papa und der richtige Knopf im Kopf”).
The first highlight on the same Thursday will once again be the opening event. Starting at 7 pm, there will be a champagne reception for invited guests – for the first time in the Maschinenhaus – followed at 8 pm by a witty welcome in Cinema 1 of the Central im Bürgerbräu, including a brief look back at 50 years of the International Film Weekend. We will then show the competition film “Ama Gloria” from Belgium (with German subtitles). Information about the film can be found at the film site of Ama Gloria.
In the following days, we look forward to a lot of interest in our lovingly compiled program – to be seen in the venues Central im Bürgerbräu with its three cinemas, Siebold-Museum, Keller Z87 and Sektkellerei Höfer (for the Retrospective ’74) – all on the Bürgerbräu grounds, Frankfurter Straße 87, Würzburg. As in previous years, additional parking is available at the nearby Vogel Convention Center at Max-Planck Str. 7.
At the end of the festival on Sunday, January 28, we will once again award the audience prizes for the best-rated feature film (2,500 euros from VR-Bank Würzburg), the most popular documentary film (1,500 euros from Hofbräu Würzburg) and the respective favorites of the two short film blocks (500 euros each from Sparkasse Mainfranken). We would like to thank these and other loyal sponsors who have gone the extra mile this year and made the anniversary exhibition in the Spitäle at the Alte Mainbrücke (also running until Sunday) financially possible.