A look back at twenty fantastic years.

In 2004, the 11mm Football Film Festival began with “Football Films from England.”

In 2005, we continued by examining what all of Europe had to offer by way of football films.

To mark the 2006 World Cup in Germany, we expanded our scope to include football films from all five continents.

In 2007, “Football Gods” descended upon our movie screens, while in 2008 took a look at club football.

To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 2009, we focused on football in and from Communist East Germany.

In conjunction with the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, we shifted our attention to African football.

To acknowledge the 2011 Women’s World Cup in Germany, the festival that year was devoted to women’s football films.

In 2012, we leveled our gaze upon Poland and Ukraine, the hosts of that year’s European Championships.

And to mark the festival’s tenth anniversary, for the first time we staged two best-of series: documentaries and feature films.

In 2014 to mark the World Cup in Brazil, we took a closer look at Brazils football.

In advance of  the 2015 Champions League Final, which was held in Berlin, we shifted our focus on films about the legendary history of the Europe’s top club competition.

The thirteenth edition of the 11mm International Football Film Festival focused on the fiftieth anniversary of the controversial "phantom goal" at Wembley and the host nation of the 2016 European Championships, France.

In 2017 the festival devotes a cinematic homage to Dutch football icon Johan Cruyff.

Since 2018, the 11mm Festival has awarded three prizes: the "11mm Jury Award", the Audience Award "The Golden 11" and the prize for the best football short film of the year, the "11mm shortkicks Award".
The documentary "Men in the Arena" by J.R. Biersmith receives the first 11mm Jury Award. The four-member panel of experts - Hertha BSC Managing Director Sport Michael Preetz, Alba Vice President and film scholar Henning Harnisch, Italy correspondent on football matters Birgit Schönau and the Spanish festival director of the Offside Fest from Barcelona Oriol Rodríguez - decide in favour of the US documentary that shows how Somalia and its football want to revive.
Director Frank Steffan takes the 11mm Audience Award 2018 with "Double 1977/78 - a journey through time with 1.FC Köln" 40 years later.
The prize for the best football short film of 2018 was won by the Swiss short documentary En la boca - an impressive study of the Molina family, who live in Buenos Aires in the shadow of the legendary "Boca Juniors" stadium. The family earns its living by selling football tickets, real and fake. The short documentary convinces with its closeness and intimacy.
The podcast series "Football and Power" was also produced during the festival in cooperation with Kooperative Berlin. The interviewees discussed the political aspects of football and the often critical relationship between football and power in nine episodes.

In 2019, the documentary "Our Team - Nossa Chape" by Jeff and Michael Zimbalist received the 11mm Jury Award. The four-member jury of experts around philosopher and sports scientist Gunter Gebauer was unanimous in its verdict: "A moving film about a horrific air disaster and the struggle to overcome the consequences, both sporting and human. A gripping documentary that avoids the pathetic and melodramatic and instead gives expression to impressive personal feelings and attitudes." The two US brothers accepted the award in person.
In 2019, the Audience Award Golden 11 went for the first time to a feature film: the Iranian production "Aragh-e-Sard". The dramatic feature film about a woman playing football not only thrilled the audience at Kino Babylon, but also the festival directors.
The 11mm shortkicks.Award 2019 went to the French production 2019 "Nefta Football Club" by Yves Piat.

In 2020, 11mm was postponed to the autumn due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, 11mm launched an online film series for the first time with #shortkicks@home.

In October 2020, the festival could then be held under strict hygienic measures. The award-winning documentary "Diego Maradona" by British filmmaker and Academy Award winner Asif Kapadia won the 11mm Jury Prize 2020. The film represents the third part of his documentary trilogy after his masterpieces "Senna" and "Amy" (Winehouse). The jury with Katrin Müller-Hohenstein, Almuth Schult, Jonas Hummels, Aljoscha Pause and Svend Rybner hwas enthusiastic.
The 11mm shortkicks Award 2020 also went to a film about Diego Maradona this year. "Ijrain Maradona / Maradona's Legs", the short film by Firas Khoury, convinced all jurors at the #11mm shortkicks gala. On stage, everyone was unanimous: three points - the highest score - were awarded again and again to the German-Palestinian short film production.
The audience award of the 11mm Football Film Festival 2020 went to the film "The Miracle of Taipei" by Cologne filmmaker John David Seidler. The documentary tells the amazing story of the women's team SSG 09 Bergisch-Gladbach, which, as the unofficial German national team, won the women's world championship title in Taipei in Taiwan in 1981 in a complete surprise.

In 2021, the 11mm Football Film Festival was cancelled for the first time due to the ongoing pandemic.

In 2022, 11mm returned to the Babylon. For the first time, the "Lernort Stadion Junge Jury" selected its winning film from the same six productions as the "big" jury. Even with the same result: the German-Jordanian co-production TALA'VISION by Murad Abu Eisheh won both the 11mm Jury Prize and the "Lernort Stadion Junge Jury" prize. Associate Producer Frank W. Albers and Costume Designer Farah Karouta accepted the awards on behalf of Murad Abu Eisheh, who thanked them with a video message. The Grand Jury consisted of Dagrun Hintze (author), Sebastian Kneißl (ex-professional, co-commentator and expert at DAZN), Antonio Leal (founder and director of the football film festival CINEfoot in Brazil), Mariëtte Rissenbeek (managing director of the Berlinale), Wolfgang Steininger (director of the festival "Der Neue Heimatfilm" in Austria), Michael Zimbalist (director and producer) and Josephine Henning (artist and Olympic football champion), who was also responsible for the festival's poster motif.
The poster referred to the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, which started in the middle of the preparations for the 11mm Football Film Festival. "Together with the team of the Berlin-based Ukrainian Film Festival, we selected a total of five football films to introduce our guests to Ukraine's rich football tradition and the lives of its inhabitants," explains festival director Birger Schmidt.
The audience award "Goldene 11" at the 11mm Football Film Festival 2022 goes to director Paul Gredig with his world premiere of GANZ TOFE FÄHRT NACH KIEL.
At the 11mm shortkicks Gala 2022, the prominent jury awarded the feature film LEO by Moein Rooholamini as the best football short film of the year.
The jury members Antje Boehmert (producer), Ansgar Brinkmann (ex-professional), Katharina Dahme (chairwoman of the board of SV Babelsberg 03), Manuel Gräfe (former referee), Uwe Preuss (actor) and Pia-Sophie Wolter (national player VfL Wolfsburg) were impressed by the Iranian feature film, which only gradually reveals that this is not simply a boy's passionately commented football match.

In 2023, 11mm only existed on one evening. There, the 11mm shortkicks Gala 2023 took place in the run-up to the FIFA Women's World Cup. All the films had to do with women and football, or had been made by women.The 11mm shortkicks award went to Foul by Rune Denstad Langlo from Norway. The quiet film about a girl's passion for football in what seems to be eternal snow. The film scored the most points from the jury - Kevin Kühnert, Ulrike Häfner, Florian Werner, Mariette Rissenbeek, Martin Gottschild, Friederike Kempter, Annekatrin Hendel and Tülin Duman. The Chilean production Estrellas del desierto by Katherina Harder Sacre was narrowly beaten. Libre Directo followed in third place - a Spanish classic about the possibilities that can arise in football.

Our archive has gradually become a treasure trove of football films. Click here for the complete history of the festival at a glance.