Films

2026, 120 min
by Yulia Lokshina

In one of the poorest regions of Paraguay lies Caazapá, the “city of magic and legends”. Here, two young Paraguayan students are searching for happiness, gold and a magic bird. Behind the fences of a gated community, European dropouts are seeking freedom, healing and salvation from Armageddon – for themselves and their savings. Separating them are 12 kilometres of red-earth road which transforms into a quagmire every rainy season. Around them hovers the humid heat and ch

2026, 96 min
by Nico Weber

bauhaus forever. is a cinematic essay on the afterlife of the Bauhaus. More than a century after modernism was conceived as a promise of progress, its ideas are once again under political negotiation. Filmed over several years around a closed archive and an unfinished museum, the film observes modernism not as history, but as an unresolved condition of the present. Architecture becomes a question of power and perception — and cinema an act of attention. A film about absence, conflict and t

2026, 200 min
by Volker Koepp

“Sarmatische Zeit” (Sarmatian Time) is the name of a poetry collection by Johannes Bobrowski, which becomes a personal, lyrical leitmotif for Volker Koepp in this visually striking, far-reaching exploration of the region between the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea, along the Memel, Dnister and Pruth rivers. It is a place of different origins, longings and crimes: a melting pot for myriad cultures and affiliations, a point of reference and refuge for over half a century in the work of th

2026, 92 min
by Sandra Prechtel

“There have only been two geniuses in Germany since the war, Fassbinder in the West and Schleef in the East”, remarked Elfriede Jelinek. When Einar Schleef died far too early in 2001 at the age of 57, he was alone, with the public only finding out about his death days later. How is it possible that this painter, author and pioneer of German theatre direction in the East, later in the West and finally in the reunified Germany – at once recognised and unappreciated, celebrated an

Germany, India 2026, 105 min
by Madhusree Dutta

Spurred by her Alzheimer’s-afflicted mother’s strange evocation of home-invading tigers, filmmaker Madhusree Dutta travels to Assam, India. Here, she learns about the Flying Tigers: US aircraft that transferred military supplies during WWII across the perilous Himalayas, from Assam to Kunming in China. So begins a globetrotting, decades-spanning docufiction essay on the human-scale experience of monumental logistical phenomena, featuring small histories that unfold in the quiet shado

Germany, Georgia 2026, 31 min
by Giorgi Gago Gagoshidze

A speculative documentary essay connecting the filmmaker’s medical history with post-Cold War geopolitical shifts and their impact on contemporary politics. The film originates from the filmmaker’s diagnosis with a rare form of cancer, T-cell lymphoma, a condition that causes the failure of the immune system and the body’s defence mechanisms. The medical treatment unfolds in three stages: 1. Remission of cancer cells; 2. Immune transplantation; 3. Adaptation to a new immune sys

2026, 92 min
by Christian Pietscher

Amos Ritter looks back on a fulfilling life in Israel. But in summer 2024 he emigrates to the country from which his Jewish ancestors fled the Nazis in 1939. He used to believe in peace between Jews and Palestinians volunteering to help Palestinians in the West Bank. But when he thinks about continuing his life in Israel, he gets scared. In the shadow of the Middle East conflict, the Ritter family again is wandering towards a life in peace – in search of a home and a new beginning. Israeli

2026, 9 min
by Derya Durmaz

The barriers and boundaries created by patriarchal social and gender norms and bigotry that prevent us from simply being ourselves... have we really managed to sink that ship?Still constrained, still violated by those norms to different degrees in different parts of the world, can we avoid the danger of constraining ourselves with new norms we create, which we should rather treat as a work in progress? After all, aren't we human beings ever a work in progress? ____________________________ Queer

Germany 2026, 110 min
by Sabine Lidl

Young, curious and full of drive, Siri Hustvedt leaves the wide, quiet landscapes of Minnesota and plunges into the pulsating life of New York City. In search of the protagonist for her first novel, she embarks on a journey that not only shapes her as a writer but leads her to become one of the most compelling voices in contemporary American literature. The film opens a perspective that reaches far beyond Siri Hustvedt herself, discovering women who courageously and independently realise their a

Germany 2026, 91 min
by Daniela Magnani Hüller

A film like a house full of dark chambers long closed. Yet every room will be opened: puppet shows, butterflies, colour, light! This autobiographical documentary debut sets out to deprive silence of its power. Fourteen years ago, the director survived an attempted femicide carried out by a schoolmate, who had harassed her before. An act whose subjective and objective inconceivability Daniela Magnani Hüller will not accept. In images of great sensitivity, she uncovers memories, makes her voi

Germany 2026, 91 min
by Marie Wilke

The Bundeswehr has arrived at a decisive “turning point” (“Zeitenwende”): in Schnöggersburg, Europe’s biggest military model city, defending the nation and the alliance is not just rehearsed, but also directly taught. Marie Wilke’s sober, focused observational documentary puts together a 360-degree view of its subject, which captures the current state of the German army from different perspectives. Between press appointments, swearing-in ceremonies, visit

Germany, Great Britain 2026, 15 min
by Daniel Mann

In 1904, European leaders of the Zionist Organisation secretly surveyed the Ugandan highlands as a potential “New Promised Land” for the Jewish people. Supported discreetly by British colonial administrators, who described East Africa as a barren and blank imperial canvas and were eager to rid England of its Jewish population, one Jewish delegate began mapping the terrain, climate and life in Uganda towards a new Jewish settlement. What occurred on that mountain that led the explorer

Germany, Serbia 2026, 17 min
by Mina Simendić

Treating language as a device of meaning, the film deals with the transposable power inherent in language itself – the value that derives from the device, rather than from the meaning. Given the opportunity to work with alluring and costly 16mm film stock within a restrictive political climate, a filmmaker reflects on the transactions made in the process of immigrating to Germany. What does one have to give up to be able to live in the “promised land”? By conceiving analogue fi

Germany 2026, 16 min
by Vika Kirchenbauer

At a time when elements of fascisation are becoming ever more apparent, ever more pervasive, artist Vika Kirchenbauer takes a personal look at what is in the air in present-day Germany. This Suffocating Now witnesses the historical present as a condition marked by vectors of violence that have continuously and habitually existed, and puts its focus on the fault lines that have most explicitly exposed the illiberal underbelly of a liberal state and society in recent years: Palestine solidarity as

Germany, Netherlands 2026, 85 min
by Viv Li

Viv, a Chinese wannabe artist, found herself stuck in Berlin after the pandemic and accidentally ventured into the city’s vibrant alternative culture scene. Drifting between new environments and traditional expectations, Viv is constantly adapting to shifting opinions about herself, the world and, of course, China, only to feel more lost than ever. Two Mountains Weighing Down My Chest follows Viv’s eclectic encounters and the nuanced culture clashes that shape them. Told in a deeply

2026, 14 min
by Pavel Mozhar, Pavel Mozhar

An abandoned GDR factory. More than 400 dusty job application letters from the years 2004 to 2008 lie scattered in the cellar of the administrative building. Alongside the traditional phrases of a covering letter, the documents contain descriptions of personal circumstances and memories. The wishes of the applicants, as well as their fears and pain, are laid bare in their effort to find a place in the free market economy. A documentary contemplation of the individual behind the workforce. Source

2025, 64 min
by Stephan Hayn

In 2024 (2023), Stefan Hayn reveals layer by layer what he sees, where he is and what he does. He paints the city of Berlin, where he lives. He portrays his family. The daughters are used to it and do not pose. It is a togetherness in relationship that is reflected in his painting, and a struggle for the image. Wouldn't it be easier to take a photo? Painting takes time and gives time, it shows the variation of seeing and how necessary it is to be within reach of what is being depicted. What show

2025, 90 min
by Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese

With Ancestral Visions of the Future, filmmaker Lemohang Mosese presents a deeply personal work. Using a fragmented narrative style and mythical images, he reflects on experiences of uprooting and belonging. Appearing are: The puppeteer, a man who grows herbs that are supposed to extend people's lifespans. And the market vendor, a mother who keeps the language of dreams alive - in a city that has forgotten how to speak it. The film also explores Mosese's childhood and his relentless efforts to e

2025, 122 min
by Weiwei Ai

2025CPH:DOXAi Weiwei examines our relationship with animals, from China and Egypt to the Danish mink farms. At times violent, always thought-provoking - and above all, a mirror image of ourselves.In China, men in uniforms kill street dogs with long sticks and turn donkeys into candy. In Myanmar, elephants drag heavy logs through the jungle, but soon there is not enough work for the many working elephants. In Egypt, they tie the camels’ legs together to make them behave. In the Lofoten Islands, t

2025, 4 min
by Werner Biedermann

The film features kaleidoscopic panoramic footage that converge and dissolve like images from a Rorschach test. A synthesis of documentar film and video art.

2025, 88 min
by Stefanie Brockhaus

Azza had to compromise her life for others since she was a child. Rebellious as a girl she was married at 16, had four children and had no right to continue her education. Through a smart trick she managed to get divorced after years of being stuck in an abusive marriage. As a divorced woman she was banned from her family and was not allowed to see her children. Her solitude forced her into a new marriage, after which she was accepted back into her family.As Azza is caught up by the traumas of h

2025, 30 min
by Jakob Krese

Hazira survived the massacre in Srebrenica. She has lived in the Ježevac refugee camp near Tuzla for 29 years. She was never able to return to her home village in the mountains above Srebrenica. Today it is located in Republika Srpska, the Serbian part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The political and social conditions force Hazira to wait, her days are characterized by routines that ensure survival. She collects firewood, cleans obsessively and defies the harsh conditions of camp life. With black hu

2025, 86 min
by Julia Lemke, Anna Koch

Santino is a circus kid. He travels around the country with his family and animals in a caravan - here today, there tomorrow. Home is not a fixed place for him, but rather his parents Angie and Gitano, his brother Giordano, countless uncles and aunts, cousins and especially his great-grandfather Ehe, one of the last great circus directors in Germany. Ehe tells Santino wild stories from his long life: about the magnificent bull elephant Sahib, his own first steps as a clown and the feeling of fre

2025, 132 min
by Marcin Wierzchowski

The film tells the story of the 2020 racist attack in the city of Hanau in the German state of Hesse from the perspective of the bereaved relatives and the survivors. Within the space of just a few minutes, the perpetrator shot nine young people dead because he did not consider them to be German. What are the direct and long-term consequences of such an attack on people and their city? Director Marcin Wierzchowski accompanied the protagonists for four years as they faced their grief and strived