The Neisse Film Festival introduces its new leadership team with Clemens Meyer stepping in as successor to Ola Staszel in the position of festival co-director, effective immediately. With Clemens Meyer the festival gains a film enthusiast, dedicated networker and creative strategist who has been working for years to bring film, talents and audiences together in potent ways.

A Distinguished Personality on the up-and-coming Filmmakers and Festival Scene

Clemens Meyer (born in 1998 in Wittenberg) is co-founder and co-director of the ENCOURAGE Film Talents initiative, which networks young film talent throughout the German-speaking area and makes it visible at leading film festival swith pitchings, panels and branch meetings -- among others at the Berlinale, the Filmfest Hamburg, the Braunschweig International Film Festival, at achtung berlin and the Vienna Shorts. Before this he served as co-director of the international student film festival Sehsüchte, there responsible for one of the largest festivals for ""new blood"" in the film industry. There he not only signifiantly expanded the budget, but also the curatorial direction, headed a large team and was involved in integrating new perspectives on sustainability and diversity. Having been active in distribution, film funding, cinema work and at film festivals, Meyer brings broad practical knowledge of all areas of the film industry. He is also an alumn of the Babelsberg Film University KONRAD WOLF and the Cannes Makers Programme des Marché du Film at the Cannes Film Festival.

A New Impulse for the Future of the Festival

"With Clemens Meyer we are bringing a young personality into the leadership team, thus setting an important signal for the future of the NFF,"" stated the managing committee of the Kunstbauerkino e.V. as organizer of the Neisse Film Festival. "He understands film culture as a living process and is a strong advocate of festivals remaining places of dialogue, discovery and societally relevant."

With his professional expertise -- almong other thing in brand creation in the arthouse sector, in festival strategies in crisis situations and in current developments in the film branch, his experience in supporting young talent as well as his extensive network in the German-speaking area -- Meyer will bring new perspectives into the festival work. Festival co-director Andreas Friedrich is looking forward to working together: "Clemens unifies enthusiasm, analytical astuteness and practical experience, and will spark important incentives."

Rethinking Film Culture -- in the Tri-Country-Corner and Beyond

Clemens Meyer himself emphasizes the meaning of the festival for the region and the distinctiveness of the trinational profile: ""For me the Neisse Film Festival is a place where films cross borders and bring people together. Together with the team I would like to continue to develop the festival -- artistically courageous, politically relevant and close to the people. I am especially excited about including young filmmakers even more, and in making film interesting for new audiences."

The 23rd Neisse Film Festival runs from 26-31 May 2026 in the three-country-corner between Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic. Current information is available online at www.neissefilmfestival.net.

The Neise Film Festival is sponsored by and with funds from the Saxon State Ministry for Science and Art (SMWK), the Kulturraum Oberlausitz-Niederschleisien, County of Görlitz -- Wokrjes Zhorjelc, the bank Sparkasse Oberlausitz-Niederschlesien, Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony (Kulturstiftung des Freistaates Sachsen), the German-Czech Foundation for the Future (Deutsch-Tschechischer Zukunftsfunds), the Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship (Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur). This organisation is co-financed using tax moneys on the basis of the state budget passed by the representatives to the Saxon state parliament (Landtag).

Photo material is available via Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/7pyvx5gaeq8fnd4lbjhjr/AOFK3wY8jzbOtCPMT3gicLs?rlkey=a44x76lbj3kg5r67a8diufmg7&st=zl9ttjqo&dl=0