That was SERIENCAMP FESTIVAL 2026!

Germany’s most important TV series festival took place for the twelfth time. Around 4,000 attendees came to the four-day Seriencamp Festival at Cinenova in Cologne-Ehrenfeld to experience the latest TV series highlights. The festival enjoyed numerous sold-out screenings, standing ovations lasting several minutes, and a large turnout of celebrities on the red carpet.

The opening with BACK FOR MORE

With over 400 celebrity guests and friends in attendance, Seriencamp Festival 2026 kicked off on Monday, June 8, at Cinenova in Cologne-Ehrenfeld.

The event featured the world premiere of the ZDFneo series BACK FOR MORE. Stars including the BACK FOR MORE cast members Tim Sander, Daniel Sträßer, Eidin Jalali, Tristan Seith, Nadeshda Brennicke, Detlef Soost, Collien Monica Fernandes, as well as Veronica Ferres, Max von der Groeben, Yung Ngo, Kai Schumann, and the newly crowned award winner Anke Greifeneder (HBO Max) were on hand to celebrate the festival’s opening and the series premiere with us.

Tuesday's Highlights

On Tuesday, we celebrated our first day of the festival with public screenings. From the sold-out premieres of “Club der roten Bänder – Die neue Generation” and “Westend Girl” to the gripping series “Trespasses” and the comedy “Alice and Steve.” There was plenty going on internationally as well: We celebrated the world premiere of “Annie” and the German premiere of “Eldorado.” For many of the series, some of the creators and actors were there in person!

Wednesday's Highlights

On Wednesday, the action continued right away with six of the most exciting new series from around the world. The two sold-out premieres of “All Heroes are Bastards” and “Das Manko/The Flaws” received standing ovations, Shady Srour (director, writer, actor) introduced us to his series “Fadia”; and the audience also got to experience “Braunschlag 1986” with David Schalko in attendance. The grand finale featured the RTL Storytellers series “Mermaids to Lovers” and the co-production “Escaping Bolivia”.

Thursday's Highlights

On our final day of the festival, we had the pleasure of celebrating six more fantastic series. We celebrated two world premieres: “Serial Cleaner” and “Game of Keys” (WT), both attended by the cast and crew. In addition to these special premieres, the program also featured several audience premieres. These included our Audience Award winner, “Happiness“, and the series “House of Yang,” which was nominated for the Critics’ Choice Award. Furthermore, our opening series, “Back For More,” was screened once again to a full house. And last but not least, we presented and honored the winners of the Short Form Competition: “Buried” and “Sheep.”

Our Awards 2026

In 2026, the Seriencamp Awards made their comeback. In addition to the Official Competition and Short Form Competition awards, which had already been presented prior to the festival, we were particularly pleased to once again present the Critics’ Choice Award and the Audience Choice Award.

Official Competition Award: The Flaws/Das Manko

Short Form Competition Award: Sheep, Buried (ex aequo)

Critics' Choice Award: Trespasses

Audience Choice Award: Happiness

“We’re thrilled to see awards go to series like Das Manko, which take stylistic risks, or Happiness, which is incredibly attuned to current events. Of course, we also want to thank the Cologne audience, who turned out in large numbers over the three days of the festival, filled the theaters, and showed so much enthusiasm. That’s why we’re looking forward to next year even more, with the promise of making the Seriencamp Festival 2027 even bigger and better,” says Seriencamp Co-Managing Director Malko Solf enthusiastically.

Following this year’s successful edition, we’re already looking forward to the next chapter: The Seriencamp Festival will take place for the 13th time from June 8 to 10, 2027.