The ceremonial highlight of the FILM FESTIVAL COLOGNE is the presentation of the festival’s awards. The following prizes were presented on October 16, 2025, at the Filmpalast:
Filmpreis Köln
The Filmpreis Köln, endowed with €25,000 and presented by the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW and the City of Cologne, has previously been awarded to filmmakers such as David Lynch, Jane Campion, and Lars von Trier. This year’s recipient was Werner Herzog.
The Hollywood Reporter Award
The Hollywood Reporter Award honors the best fictional contribution in the competitive sections Top TV, Best of Cinema Fiction, and Look. The prize is endowed with 10,000 euros and this year went to Kleber Mendonça Filho.
International Actors Award
The International Actors Award honors personalities who have achieved fame and recognition in the international film and TV industry through their outstanding acting performances. This year, the German actress Maren Eggert is being honored.
phoenix Preis
The phoenix Award is presented for the best documentary film in the competitive sections Top TV, Best of Cinema Documentary, and Look. The prize is endowed with 10,000 euros and this year it went to Mstyslav Chernov for his documentary film 2000 METERS TO ANDRIIVKA.
Filmpreis NRW
The Filmpreis NRW has been awarded since 2016. The award is endowed with 20,000 euros and honors the best entry in the NRW competition. The award is sponsored by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the city of Cologne and the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW. This year, the award went to Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay and Claus Herzog-Reichel of the Cologne-based production company filmfaust for the film HYSTERIA.
NRW-Medienpreis
for development policy engagement
The NRW Media Award for Development Policy Engagement is a quality award recognizing outstanding audiovisual online and social media campaigns from Germany that promote development cooperation, the United Nations’ Global Goals for Sustainable Development, and partnerships with countries of the Global South.
The 2025 winners were Greenpeace e.V., MBRC the Ocean gGmbH, and Pio Pioneer Communications GmbH.
