How it all started
The Underdog Film Festival started in 2023 with the idea of making film festivals more open and approachable. From the beginning, it combined around 40 short films with unconventional screening formats and a deliberately different setting. Hosting the festival in a tattoo studio was a conscious choice: films were shown in a space people already felt comfortable in, helping to reach audiences who wouldn’t usually go to a traditional film festival.
Over the following years, the festival continued to evolve. Short films were joined by feature films, workshops, challenges and opportunities for emerging filmmakers to connect and learn. The mix of a curated film programme and a tattoo walk-in created a new kind of festival experience, attracted a younger audience and allowed Underdog to grow and change with each edition.
... and what 2026 holds in store for you
After three editions, the Underdog Film Festival has grown into its own voice. What began as an experiment has become a constantly evolving format, now organised by the registered society Culture Club, which continues to refine and develop the festival for 2026. Some elements have been deliberately let go, others given more room to breathe. New this year is a small children’s film selection shown in its own dedicated screening space, while the competition categories have been streamlined to keep the focus on the films themselves.
At its core, Underdog is about sharing film in an open, accessible way. Short films are shown across several small screening rooms in a rotating programme, accompanied by a free workshop offer covering camera acting, story development, production and media technology. Walk-in tattoos remain part of the festival’s DNA. As always, it is the audience who chooses the winning films — keeping Underdog firmly rooted as a festival made with, and for, its viewers.
During previous editions, artists from Culture Shocks offered tattoos alongside the peep show programme. In 2026, several artists will be on site again, ready to bring small tattoo ideas to life. It’s best to arrive early, as tattoos are done on a first-come, first-served basis.
Click Me
We started out by screening films on a single big screen, but soon shifted to showing films across several tattoo ateliers instead. This multi-room setup gives visitors more choice and flexibility, allowing them to move between screenings at their own pace. The foyer is used as a shared space for relaxing, taking a break and networking between films.
Click Me2023 to 2025
The first ever annual Underdog Film Festival took place in one of Wolfsburg's most unique location and hosted films from all over the globe, welcoming a lovely audience to experience this cozy live event over the course of a weekend in June. Combining, live screenings with our daily peepshow booth prorgamme as well as a number of interesting panels, spectators and filmmakers alike were able to shape this event and make it a memorable experience for everyone who decided to drop by. Like any new event, however, ours has also evolved. We have tried to make things a little less complicated and a little more transparent. And with submissions from over 52 countries, shortlisting those films was quite a heartbreaking task for the members of our 2025 jury. We are quite hopeful to be able to grow our festival some more in the coming years, so we can provide more screening opportunities for some genuinly worthwhile content. This does, however, also depend on our audience. So drop by in 2026, have a look and have a chat with those filmmakers in attendance about what makes you want to stick around for more!
