Nature & Travel
Festival

Wiesbaden, Germany
27 Nov – 1 Dec 2024

Foto Arved Fuchs

We have to move on to seeing and understanding nature in its overall context. Nature must not be reduced to the city park or one’s own garden—nature is everywhere and the basis of life for all of us. A new understanding of nature must be created - regardless of all eco-doctrines and so-called alternative forms of life.”

Arved Fuchs, polar explorer and spokesman of the NATOURALE jury

Travel,

Nature,

Environment

News

04.12.2024

The winners

You can now find the list of winners on this page. Photos and film clips from NATOURALE 24 can be found on our Instagram and Facebook pages. We would like to thank all participants, supporters and team members for a fantastic NATOURALE.

18.11.2024

Download our programme

Our entire programme is now available to download here. All films, all events—plus a map to keep track of six venues.

Festival

The NTFF NATOURALE takes place every two years in Wiesbaden / Germany. The venue is among other locations the well-known Murnau movie theater, in which the winning films are awarded and shown.

An international panel of experts awards the most impressive films of recent years in the fields of nature, the environment, travel and tourism. A combination that has been chosen as a sustainable combination of these sectors is becoming increasingly important for modern society.

Award-winning German filmmaker Andreas Ewels says: "People will only protect what they know and respect, so travel and the spirit of discovery are very important. But exploring must be done carefully and sustainably, so that we do not destroy everything by discovering our world. We only have one planet."

Filmmakers who recognize and implement this will have an important impact on the future development of our world and will gain an important forum with NATOURALE.

The NTFF has its origin in the NATURFILMNÄCHTE WIESBADEN. Two to three times a year, German nature and environmental filmmakers show their works here and discuss with the audience. The great success of this series of events has now motivated the makers to take the next step and, with the NATOURALE, now with the new festival international filmmakers have the chance to present themselves to the public in the state capital of Hesse, Wiesbaden.

Submission

The NATOURALE is a film festival for documentaries, reports, commercials and feature films from the fields of nature, the environment, travel and tourism. Submitted films are intended to document the beauty of our planet or to point out abuses in this context. Films from the areas of tourism and travel are given special consideration if they are committed to sustainable and environmentally friendly tourism. Film submissions are only possible under consideration and recognition of the regulations. Please read them carefully.

To submit, please use the attached form or submit your works directly via Filmfreeway. Deadline: September 01, 2024.
<!–Deadline was 01 September 2022 – submission is no longer possible.–>

Awards

Awards are given in 6 categories:
White Hessian Lion
for the best film over 30 minutes
Nature / Environment
White Hessian Lion
for the best film over 30 minutes
Tourism / Travel
Golden Hessian Lion
for the best film under 30 minutes
Nature / Environment
Golden Hessian Lion
for the best film under 30 minutes
Tourism / Travel
Red Hessian Lion
for the best commercial under 10 minutes
Nature / Environment / Tourism / Travel
Red Hessian Lion
sustainability award
Nature / Environment / Tourism / Travel
Background & further awards

The Hessian Lion is a cult and one of the most famous works of art, which are in direct contact with the state of Hesse. It was created by the world-famous concept artist Prof. Ottmar Hörl. The lion, also a symbol of courage, strength, wisdom and alertness, is the ideal trophy for the special achievements of the NATOURALE-Award-Winners. For the festival Prof. Ottmar Hörl produces a specially inscribed pedestal for the lion sculpture, which defines it as a unique NATOURALE-Award.

Invited award winners will receive 2 overnight stays in one of our partner hotels for the duration of the festival. Included is also a program for the award winners.

In addition to the 6 main prizes, the NATOURALE awards a total of 10 awards in special categories. Until 2020 these awards were designed by the artist Darina Schmidt, but in 2022 these awards, in the form of a golden owl, are also a work by Ottmar Hörl.

Owl in Gold by Ottmar HörlProposals from the jury, the festival management and NATOURALE decide on the awarding of the owls. All decisions must be confirmed by the festival management. The special prize can also be awarded for a life’s work or other notable activities in the fields of film, nature and environmental protection.

Best Director
Best Screenplay
Best Camera
Best Music
Best Editing
Scientific and Engineering Award
Best Passion Project
Best Story
Best Cinematic Idea
Special Award

Locations

location
location
location
location
location
location
The Hessian state captial Wiesbaden, is a historic spa town in the center of Germany. Not far away: Frankfurt Airport one of the largest aviation hubs in the world. In less than 30 minutes you can reach it from Wiesbaden and travel all around the word. The very international town of Wiesbaden itself is one of the oldest spa towns in Europe. Its name translates to "meadow baths", making reference to the hot springs. It is famous for its architecture, climate, and its hot springs. At one time, Wiesbaden boasted 26 hot springs. The romantic city is located on the right bank of the Rhine, below the confluence of the Main. To the north of the city you find the Taunus Mountains, which is the trend in a northeasterly direction. It is perfect place for enjoying nature all year long. The Deutsche Filmhaus is not far from the historic main train station. With its modern Murnau film theater, it is the center of NATOURALE and offers various facilities. Other venues include the Wiesbaden Natural History Museum (262 seats), the Caligari Filmbühne (425 seats), the Rathaus Wiesbaden (130 seats), the Villa Clementine (60 seats), the Society for German Language (30 seats) and the wonderful Kronberger Lichtspiele (181 seats) between Wiesbaden and Frankfurt.

Jury

Tamina Kallert
Travel expert and presenter (GER)
Astrid Prinzessin zu Stolberg
Nature and travel expert (ESP)
Nina Heinemann
Travel expert and hotel tester (GER)
Alexandra Johnen
Tourism expert and travel journalist (NLD)
Nora Sophie Griefahn
C2C expert (GER)
Christiane Hinninger
Biologist und politician (GER)
Mara Bergmann
TV presenter and journalist (GER)
Volker Angres
Environmental journalist (GER)
Oliver Heuss
Composer (GER)
Ulrich von dem Bruch
Managing Director Lüneburger Heide (GER)
Arved Fuchs
Polar explorer (GER)
Tobias Woitendorf
Director Marketing & Communications, Tourist board MV (GER)
Robert Jasper
Extreme Climber (GER)
Robin Jähne
Nature documentary filmmaker (GER)
Oliver Goetzl
Wildlife filmmaker (GER)
Prof. Josef Settele
IPBES scientist (GER)

Team

Team member
Festival Director
Dr. Andrea-Eva Ewels
Team member
Editor
Dr. Torsten Siever
Team member
Founder
Andreas Ewels
Team member
Representative
Volker Angres
Team member
Film Coordination Management
Lawrence Richards
Team member
Design Management
Dr. Torsten Siever
Team member
Organization and Guest Relations Management
Katja Burger
Team member
Organization and Guest Relations Management
Luis Burghardt
Team member
Organization and Guest Relations Management
Ulf Püschel
Team member
Guest Relations Management
Elke Angres
Team member
Organization
Thomas Kiemle
Team member
Social Media Manager
Jill Steindl
Team member
Photographer
Hendrik Willemsen
Team member
Cameraman
Paul Hof
Team member
Consulting Nature Film
Oliver Goetzl
Team member
Consulting Species Protection
Dr. Mark Auliya
Team member
Consulting Science Film
Stella Schaller
Team member
Consulting Camera
Fran Lopez
Team member
Consulting Travel
Ralf Johnen
Team member
Consulting Entomology
Prof. Josef Settele

Ambassadors

NATOURALE ambassadors represent the values of NATOURALE and provide filmmakers from their countries of origin with advice and assistance. If your country is not yet represented, please apply to us and represent your country.
Ambassador
Belgium
Phil de Witte (Filmmaker)
Ambassador
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Robert Dacesin (Filmmaker)
Ambassador
Bulgaria
Elena Krapcheva (Filmmaker)
Ambassador
Chile
Alejandra Medina Ayrer (Tourism expert)
Ambassador
Croatia
Spomenka Saraga (Festival manager)
Ambassador
Germany
Tamina Kallert (TV presenter)
Ambassador
Finland
Ilias Missyris (Festival manager)
Ambassador
India
Rao Narender Yadav (Festival manager)
Ambassador
Japan
Makiko Kobayashi (Producer)
Ambassador
Kenya
Fionda Tande (Festival manager)
Ambassador
Iran
Ali Afshar (Producer)
Ambassador
Italy
Rocco Cosentino (Festival manager)
Ambassador
Latvia
Sandra Inkena (Tourism expert)
Ambassador
Nepal
Jaswant Dev Shrestha (Filmmaker)
Ambassador
Netherlands
Kees Colenbrander (Producer)
Ambassador
Poland
Grzegorz Dukielski (Festival manager)
Ambassador
Portugal
Hugo Marcos (Festival manager)
Ambassador
Spain
Bienvenido León Anguiano (Festival manager)
Ambassador
Sweden
Maria Ålander (Producer)
Ambassador
USA
David Ellis (Film director)