PHAROS Shiver Screen Award 2025 – Award for NAISSANCE D’UN FEU by Archibald Martin

The PHAROS Shiver Screen Award was presented once again at the 59th International Hof Film Festival – a joint initiative by PHAROS – The Post Group and The Playmaker Munich to promote genre films and offer new talent a bigger stage.

The prize, worth €2,500, is aimed at international debut and second films in the thriller, horror, action, and science fiction genres. In addition to the prize money, the award includes a mentoring program, an option on worldwide distribution rights through The Playmaker, a first look at the worldwide distribution of an upcoming feature film project, and networking with potential distributors.

The PHAROS Shiver Screen Award 2025 went to NAISSANCE D'UN FEU by Archibald Martin.

The jury—consisting of Jakob Zapf (Neopol Film), Letizia Lange (Rommel Film), and Angela Reedwisch—explained their decision as follows:

“This film builds suspense and maintains it until the very end – and at the end, you feel totally relieved to be able to exhale the tension along with the two protagonists... Because before that, you are consistently pressed into your seat, even for the short time you spend with the characters.”

With the PHAROS Shiver Screen Award, we and our partners want to support projects that tell stories in a courageous, emotional, and cross-genre way – thereby strengthening the diversity of European genre cinema.

Click here for all the awards.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)