Independent jury honours the short film by Emma Hütt and Tina Muffler – two further films receive Honorable Mentions.
Awarded with ceremony: The independent jury of the PRIDE PICTURES PRISM Award – The City of Media Arts Queer Short Film Award announced its decision on 25 October 2026: the short film award, endowed with €1,000, goes to “bleifrei 95” by Emma Hütt and Tina Muffler (Germany/Austria, 2025, 24 min). The prize money is sponsored by the UNESCO Creative City of Media Arts Karlsruhe.
The film follows three friends in their mid-twenties who reunite in their hometown, renegotiating their friendship between gas-station cruising, highways and the oldest lesbian bar in the world. In its statement, the jury praised “a chaotic journey through the evening of the three main characters”, accompanied by “gripping filmmaking and fascinating soundtrack choices”: “The film pictures a part of a queer community as it is: collaborative, chaotic, raw, sometimes cringe-worthy, but always full of love.”
Honorable Mentions
Two further films from the competition programme received special recognition from the jury:
“We Will Be Who We Are” (dir. by Priscilla Kounkou Hoveyda) – Faced with the ongoing criminalisation of queer relationships in Sierra Leone, the protagonists of this poetic story come together in resistance. The jury: “Dance, costumes and the experimental nature of the film’s imagery waltz together to show an example of unique solidarity that teaches us how to hold together in times of division, violence and political turmoil.” A work of art by Priscilla Kounkou Hoveyda at the intersection of fiction, documentary and music video.
“Peter” – The story of a trans man caring for his father, who is living with dementia. The jury: “The outstanding performance and a well-conceived script create a well-rounded snapshot of the lives of two people – through carefully crafted filmmaking and without the need to overexplain itself. The film lingers in the memory for a long time.”
The 2026 jury included Josefa Heinsius, Neo Novoseltcev, and Jochen Wallmann.
The PRIDE PICTURES PRISM Award – The City of Media Arts Queer Short Film Award honors outstanding queer short films and is presented at the Queer Film Festival Karlsruhe. The award is a cooperation between PRIDE PICTURES e.V. and the UNESCO Creative City of Media Arts Karlsruhe. The jury selects independently from the festival’s international short film programme.
PRIDE PICTURES e.V. is the non-profit association that has been running the Queer Film Festival Karlsruhe since 2015. The festival evolved from the Lesbian and Gay Film Days founded in 1994 and is now one of Germany’s major queer film festivals. Venues are the Karlsruhe cinemas Kinemathek and Schauburg.
