A second wave of new festivals made their appearance in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The development of television and new media had made the cinema landscape seem relatively monotonous. Production of high-quality international films was steadily declining, along with the number of cinemas showing such fillms. Today little has changed in this plight of cinematic culture. When an international film from outside the USA clears the hurdle of finding a distributor, distribution is usually limited to a small number of copies shown in just a few cinemas. But film-loving audiences in many large and mid-sized cities now have the opportunity to see a wide variety of films at festivals and 'film weeks.' There are now more than one hundred German cities with festivals of their own.
The festivals in Germany's new states also present plenty of variety. Festivals whose roots date back to the GDR era have carried on with new concepts, and new ones have been founded.
Some festivals regularly present special programmes to showcase new German productions: Berlin (the New German Cinema series), Hof, Saarbrücken (first feature films), Munich (special programme dedicated to young talent), Duisburg (documentaries), Oberhausen (short films).
Nearly all festivals publish catalogues. Books are also frequently published on individual film series and retrospectives, sometimes by the festivals themselves or in cooperation with publishers. Many festival books are published in bilingual editions in German and English.
