History

The evolvement of sehsüchte:
 
 
1972
When the Student Film Days took place back then in the GDR as the „FDJ-Studententage,“ it was not so much a festival as a display of academic achievements.

1977
Five years later, film academies from „friend countries abroad“ participated.

1985
By the middle of the 1980s, the Student Film Days had evolved to the largest student film festival of the Eastern Bloc and an exclusive event for fans from all over the world. Now films from the former West Germany could be shown.

1990
After the Wende in 1990, the Student Film Days took place two more times as their own independent event and were then integrated into the new Potsdam Film Festival.

1995
Called back into being under the name „sehsüchte“ by the students of the „Audiovisual Media Studies“ department at the HFF Potsdam, the festival went on to the next round.

2002
The flame was born. Since then, the logo has become the unmistakeable trademark of sehsüchte.

2004
The HFF became 50 years old. sehsüchte celebrated this with a retrospective. In addition, the sehsüchte Festival celebrated its 10th anniversary under its new name.

2005
The Focus section, which puts emphasis on a specific region of the world and has its own competition, took place for the first time. Every year, a new country whose usual film output is usually hidden from large audiences stands in the center of the festival.

2006
The organisation of sehsüchte is a concrete component of the master’s degree in Media Studies. The students have the opportunity to learn praxis alongside theory and can realize their own ideas at the film school.

2011
sehsüchte turns 40. An exhibition, a montage of 40 years of sehsüchte and special events celebrate this special occasion.