Spotlight Festival for moving image communication with new festival management

The most important festival for moving image communication in the German-speaking world is entering its 29th round. From March 1 to 13, 2026, leading advertising professionals and talented film students will compete for the coveted spotlight Awards. The festival has two new features: In addition to director and festival founder Peter Frey, Michael Preuss is now on board as Festival Director Communications. In addition, the festival is moving its public part to Cinema Stuttgart.

Online voting and expert jury

The free online voting for the public runs from March 1 to 9, 2026 at www.spotlight-festival.de. Viewers rate the films with school grades from 1 to 6. At the same time, a high-caliber jury of experts will independently award their prizes. The expert jury will meet on March 12, 2026 in Stuttgart City Hall and bring together the Who's Who of the German creative scene.

Motto: The Future is WOW

The spotlight motto for 2026 is "The Future is WOW" and underlines the fact that the scene will not be defeated, even in difficult times. The tongue-in-cheek claim is primarily intended to encourage and emphasize the power of positivity. The challenges of our time must be overcome - this requires confidence in the future and a clear focus on values.

Supporting program and public day

On Friday, March 13, 2026, the spotlight audience evening starts at 6 p.m. in the Stuttgart city center cinema Cinema. The host is SWR presenter Michael Bollenbacher. At the spotlight panel, Campaign Germany editor-in-chief Bärbel Egli-Unckrich will ask her fellow jury members the motto question "Why is the Future WOW?". Producer and 27 km CEO Pacco-Luca Nitsche will provide insights into his current work. He is behind campaigns such as "Voices of Humanity" for the EU Commission and was awarded the German Television Prize in 2023 for the six-part climate documentary "The World's Most Dangerous Show". On Audience Day, he will give current insights into his work using the Netflix documentary "Babo - The Arrest Warrant Story" as an example.

Competitions and categories

The prizes are awarded in two competitions: spotlight Professionals for the best in the industry and spotlight Students for the best young talent. The professionals compete in the categories TV & Cinema, Web & Mobile, Trailer/Teaser/Trenner, Animation & VFX, Digital Campaign, Social Impact, Influencer, Special Forms of Advertising, AI-Digital Transformation, Minus 15 Sec and in the new Out of Home category for moving outdoor advertising in public spaces. The students will compete in the categories TV & Cinema, Web & Mobile, Social Impact, Influencer, Animation & VFX and Minus 15 Sec.

Networking for the next generation

Immediately after the expert jury meeting, the exclusive format spotlight Matchbox - Students meets Jury brings the students together with the members of the expert jury. In the gallery of the Stuttgart-based creative agency Preuss und Preuss, all the conditions are in place for networking at its best, which has already become a career kick-start for the next generation of creatives in a number of cases. This year's event is being curated for the first time by We Make Them Wonder from Munich.

Awards and rankings

A spotlight award sets the gold standard in the DACH creative scene for the classification and evaluation of moving image communication. The festival is part of an exclusive group of the 22 most important creative competitions worldwide. The winners receive coveted points in the creative rankings of W&V, Horizont and Campaign Germany. The students awarded gold by the expert jury can also look forward to prize money totaling 5,000 euros.

Creatives who would like to submit their work have until February 6, 2026. The festival is supported by the economic development agency of the state capital Stuttgart and the state of Baden-Württemberg.