The film festival Max Ophuels Prize presents young German speaking cinema from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Luxemburg. The festival opened on January 19 with "Die Räuber" (The Robbers), an adaptation of Friedrich Schiller's play directed by Frank Hoffmann and Pol Cruchten. The coproduction between Luxemburg, Germany, and Belgium is set in the presence and cast Maximilian Schell in his last role.
For 30 years, an INTERFILM jury awarded prizes at the festival. In 2015, an Ecumenical Jury awarded a prize for the first time. It is endowed with 2000.- € by the educational organisations of the churches in the Saarland. The winner, "The Drift" (Driften) by Karim Patwa, took also the Film Award of the Prime Minister of the Saarland and the Fritz Raff Film Script Award. Another Swiss production, "Chrieg" by Simon Jaquement, is the winner of the Max Ophuels Prize, the top award of the festival.