In 2006 the Berlinale introduced a new prize, the Best First Feature Award. Each year now, a three-member international jury will award the best debut film, considering films from the Competition, the Panorama, the Generation or the Forum programmes.

 

The prize is endowed by the Gesellschaft zur Wahrnehmung von Film- und Fernsehrechten (GWFF), a society for safeguarding film and television rights. As of 2007, the donator has doubled the endowment. The prize is now worth 50,000 euros and shared between the producer and the director of the awarded film. The winner will be announced during the official award ceremony in the Berlinale Palast. For the first time in 2008 the winners were awarded with a high-quality viewfinder as both a useful instrument and memorable trophy.