In 2025, we are organizing our artistic competitions for the tenth time in three categories: Photography, Film and Collage.
In the 80th year of the end of the Second World War, the world is shaken by multiple crises. In Europe, Russia is waging war against Ukraine for the fourth year in a row. In response to the massacre and the extermination ideology of Hamas, Israel’s military operations are aimed at destroying the livelihoods of the Palestinian population in Gaza. In the USA, the administration under President Trump is destroying central principles of US democracy, waging an economic war on the world and is not shying away from territorial claims. In Europe, especially in Germany, there are once again blunt demands for military capability and the ability to wage war. The enormous increase in armaments budgets is creating the conditions for this.
The destructive potential of wars is not only evident in the bombed-out cities and landscapes close to the front that are reminiscent of the surface of the moon. Their consequences for nature and the climate are far from foreseeable. It is already clear that heavy metals and toxins are poisoning the soil for decades, landmines are turning entire regions into deadly zones – and the unchecked CO₂ emissions from tanks and missiles are pushing the achievement of climate targets into the distant future.
Global refugee movements as a result of military conflicts and hunger have reached a new high. At the same time, Europe is increasingly sealing its borders against people in need and in danger. With the first official acts of the new German government, the right to asylum has effectively been abolished.
Right-wing and far-right parties with their inhumane, democracy-destroying and nationalist programs are gaining more and more supporters. With the 2025 election, the AfD has risen to become the second largest parliamentary group in the Bundestag.
With this in mind, the Forum has chosen a quote from a 1981 speech by filmmaker Konrad Wolf for this year’s art competition:
War does not start with the first shot
Konrad Wolf is one of the sons of Friedrich Wolf, a writer closely associated with the history of International Workers‘ Aid, whose plays ‘The Sailors of Cattaro’ and ‘Cyankali’ as well as ‘Professor Mamlock’ belong to the canon of the left-wing movement from the first half of the 20th century. Friedrich Wolf and his family were forced to emigrate in 1933. While Friedrich Wolf continued his political work in various European countries, his son Konrad Wolf made Moscow the center of his life. In the final days of the war in 1945, he returned to Germany as a 19-year-old officer in the Soviet army. He later (1967) processed his memories of this moment in the feature film ‘I was nineteen’.
After studying directing in the Soviet Union, he returned to the GDR and became one of the most productive and important film directors in the GDR. 17 films were made between 1955 and 1981, including the aforementioned ‘The Divided Sky’ (Der geteilte Himmel), ‘Goya’, ‘Solo Sunny’ and, most recently, a documentary about the actor and singer Ernst Busch, who was not only known as the actor in the ‘Meshrabpom/Prometheus’ film ‘Kuhle Wampe’. In 1965, Konrad Wolf became President of the Academy of Arts and remained so until his untimely death in 1982. October 2025 marks the 100th anniversary of his birth.
In 1985, the Babelsberg Academy of Film and Television is given the name ‘Konrad Wolf’. A year later, Lothar Bisky, later the long-time chairman of the PDS and DIE LINKE and editor of ‘neue deutschland’, becomes its rector. After 1990, the naming became the subject of the Federal German approach to the history of the GDR and its protagonists. It was the director Andreas Dresen who took the initiative and sharply attacked this approach.
This educational institution has only been called the ‘Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf’ since 2014. To mark its 100th birthday, students of the film university have taken on the eponym from their perspective in a podcast.
As early as 1958, Konrad Wolf explained one of the maxims of his artistic, but also political work in an interview: `By uniting today with yesterday, we confront the viewer from a clear perspective with things that he may have seen quite differently in the past, and make it easier for him to view and judge all events in context.
Competition information
The MÜNZENBERG FORUM BERLIN expects submissions in the individual categories that deal with today’s socio-political conditions and developments using the respective stylistic means in the context of the theme. The deadline for all three categories is 5 August 2025. We will award prize money of up to €5,000 in each category, the distribution of which will be decided by a jury.
The works of all prize winners will be shown in an exhibition from 1 October 2025 to 16 November 2025, in the foyer of FMP1 (Franz-Mehring-Platz 1, 10243 Berlin). In addition, the winners‘ contributions will be published on the website and in the social media channels of the MÜNZENBERG FORUM BERLIN and in a supplement to the documentation.
PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION: „USE PHOTO AS A WEAPON“
The photography competition is open to all photographers in Germany and abroad who have not yet reached the age of forty by 01.04.2025. Up to three individual images or a consistent series/reportage of up to eight images can be submitted. These must be sent directly to foto@muenzenbergforum.de or via a fileshare platform (e.g. wetransfer.com) by August 05, 2025. Images must be high-resolution jpegs with an edge length (long side) of 3500 pixels. Do not send PDFs! The application should also include the titles of the photos, the year in which the pictures were taken, an explanation of the work on a maximum of one A4 page with reference to the competition motto, as well as a curriculum vitae showing the artistic development. Photo collages please take part in the collage competition.
A selection of the winners‘ images will be published on the MÜNZENBERG FORUM BERLIN website and its social media channels for documentation. In addition, we are planning a supplement with the works of the winners. Which works will be published will be determined in consultation with the photographers.
FILM COMPETITION: „CONQUER THE FILM“
The film competition is open to all filmmakers in Germany and abroad who have not yet reached the age of forty by April 1, 2025. A film with a maximum length of 30 minutes can be submitted. This must be sent directly to film@muenzenbergforum.de or via a fileshare platform (e.g. wetransfer.com) by 05 August 2025. The film should have HD resolution (720p or higher). Desired file formats are mp4, wmv, avi and mov. The application should include the title of the film, the year of release, an explanation of the work on a maximum of one A4 page with reference to the competition motto, as well as a curriculum vitae showing the artistic development.
The films will be shown at the award ceremony and published on the website of the MÜNZENBERG FORUM BERLIN, as well as its social media channels for documentation. At least one trailer of the film is required for this. We will also show the films as part of the exhibition. In addition, we are planning a supplement with the works of the winners. Styles from the film are needed for this.
COLLAGE COMPETITION: „TAKE SCISSORS“
The collage competition is open to all artists in Germany and abroad who have not yet reached the age of forty by April 1, 2025. Up to three individual works or a series of five works can be submitted. A high-resolution photo of the work must be sent directly to collage@muenzenbergforum.de or via a fileshare platform (e.g. wetransfer.com) by August 05, 2025. In this category of the contest, artworks of image and photo montage, as well as collage can be entered. Plastic collages/montages and sculpture are not allowed. The application should also include the titles of the works, the year of creation, an explanation of the work on a maximum of one A4 page with reference to the competition motto, as well as a curriculum vitae showing the artistic development.
Pictures of the winners‘ works will be published on the MÜNZENBERG FORUM BERLIN website and its social media channels for documentation purposes. In addition, we plan to publish a supplement with the works of the winners. Which works will be published will be determined in consultation with the artists. For the presentation of the premiered works, the original artwork or a good reproduction must be sent.
GUIDELINES for the art competition in all three categories
1) All participants of the competition assure that they own all copyrights to the submitted contribution (text, image, photo, etc.), that the contribution is free of third party rights and that the representation of persons and/or companies does not violate any personal rights of third parties.
2) The participants release the organizer of the competition from all liability claims based on an infringement of the copyrights in point 1.
3) The organizer of the competition shall safeguard the image and exploitation rights of the participants. The organizer reserves the right to publish competition entries free of charge as part of the competition on the organizer’s websites, social media channels and in a supplement. There is no right of injunction against the organizer by the participants.
4) Submitted entries and data will be stored for the purpose of the competition. They will not be passed on to third parties. Participants who receive prize money will be published on the websites and social media channels of the organizer with their (artist’s) name and, if applicable, a web presence.
5) Postal entries cannot be returned.
The legal process for the competition is excluded.
Data protection (valid for all three categories)
Personal data provided by participants will be stored, processed and used exclusively for the purpose of conducting this competition and contacting the winners. This data will not be passed on to third parties.