Films

Germany 2024, 82 min
by Farahnaz Sharifi

Farah, an Iranian woman is forced to migrate to her private planet to be free. She buys other people's memories in form of super 8mm films and records and archives her own, to create an alternative history of Iran. Best Director – Astra FF Jury statement: This film conveys the disruptive power of visual image, layering different forms of footage to tell the story of liberation. This filmmaker uses their personal journey to chart the tumultuous realities of their nation – both the harm that exists and the joy of an optimistic future, while also keeping the central role of women at its core. We, the jury, are very excited to award Farahnaz Sharifi for her film My Stolen Planet, the best director of the New Voices Competition.

Germany 2024, 103 min
by Lea Hartlaub

sr draws a panorama of human activity in which the giraffe emerges as a recurring motif. 91 narrative tableaus lead to 30 sites such as an island in the Western Pacific, a reading room in New York, a runway in central Niger. In 16 fragmentary episodes sr reports of political and societal conditions, of theoretical discourses, human creations and realities of everyday life. Traces of exoticism, colonial relics, relations of power, cultural artifacts and the relativity of knowledge appear. sr is an invitation to contemplate on what the film depicts.

Mozambique, France, Germany, Portugal, Netherlands, Norway 2024, 93 min
by Inadelso Cossa

Immersed in Mozambique's intricate history, I'm compelled to unravel the narrative woven into the film "The Nights Still Smell of Gunpowder." Returning to my grandmother Maria's village, I'm driven by a personal quest to expose the untold stories of my childhood during the civil war.This film, a sensory exploration of personal and collective memory, originates from my childhood vacations amid the civil war's paradox. A rebel attack, concealed by my grandmother as fireworks, becomes the catalyst for my cinematic endeavor—an attempt to break the silence enveloping post-civil-war Mozambique.Maria, once a storyteller, now battles Alzheimer's, blurring the lines between truth and fiction. In her village, echoes of a former rebel mirror the haunting presence of perpetrators and victims, intertwining day and night, reality and imagination. The ghosts of war that still imhabits the former rebel are possesing the presence. Motivated by the need to dismantle societal denial, the film seeks to unveil authentic stories obscured by fiction, as I return to Maria's village armed with cinematic tools. Challenging conventional aesthetics, the film becomes a sensorial journey, symbolized by Moises, the boom operator. The audience is prompted to listen closely, transcending the visual to experience the haptic nature of memory—the smell of gunpowder, the touch of suppressed emotions.In this dance between truth and fiction, memory and forgetting, THE NIGHTS STILL SMELL OF GUNPOWDER stands as my testament to the resilience of human memory. I navigate the labyrinth of my past, and use cinema for a collective endeavor to reclaim lost fragments of history and confront the haunting ghosts persisting in the darkness of societal silence.

Germany 2024, 91 min
by René Frölke

Twenty years after Swiss publishing house Pendo closed its doors, the descendants of its founders repeatedly circle, examine and lose sight of its legacy. Frölke’s film gives structure to this archive via media experimentation.The film gives brief glimpses into rooms bathed in light. The Bolex camera whirs. Twenty years after the closure of Swiss publishing house Pendo, which was founded in 1971, its story is revealed by way of personification: heir Theresia Weigner and her partner, who repeatedly circle, examine and lose sight again of this legacy with all the weight it carries. Here articles of memory are piled high, cared for, stashed away. Remaining stock, no longer hot off the press, but still packaged up for sale, unfinished manuscripts, cover designs, cassettes, office supplies, correspondence and tax documents are all laid out like in a time capsule: books by Margarete Mitscherlich, Dorothee Sölle, Dom Hélder Câmara, illustrated volumes about Robert Lax or the Sihl Valley. René Frölke’s film gives a structure to this archive and becomes a simple chamber of wonders. He finds his own annotations within the inner pull exerted by the artefacts and accompanies these stubborn, overwhelmed preservers on their way through their everyday life amid the piles of material. Written elements from the film script also play a part.At the end of the corridor, jazz music sounds from a small radio. [74 BERLINALE Forum]

Germany 2023, 20 min
by Ewelina Rosinska

Polish filmmaker Ewelina Rosinsksa explores the textures and landscapes of her homeland, a place of contrasts and parallels, where Catholicism and the natural world swirl in a baroque gesture. A delicate, melancholy history weaves through the details of this poetic and poignant impression. [IFFR, Fiona Armour]

Germany 2023, 3 min
by Werner Biedermann

The three-minute short film AXIOM, in a mirrored film image, explores the phenomenon of a visual echo.

Egypt, Italy, Germany 2023, 17 min
by Basma al-Sharif

Palestinian artist and filmmaker Basma al-Sharif makes experimental films and installations about cyclical political events and conflicts. Her latest film Capital sees her taking a slightly different direction. This combination of fiction and futuristic design draws exuberantly on the Telefoni Bianchi (“white telephone”) films of the 1930s and 40s. The Italian genre took its name from what was a status symbol at the time. These glamorous and escapist films promoting conservative values were often set in prosperous (and sometimes non-existent) foreign countries—far away from the poverty-ridden Italy of that period. The genre later came to be seen as a precursor to fascist propaganda films. The allusions in this offbeat satirical short are not limited to fascism, however. The filmmaker also makes particular reference to the frenzied development of the luxury residential complexes shaping wealthy enclaves in poor countries such as Egypt. Alsharif considers it unsafe to deliver her criticism directly, and chooses instead to communicate through a ventriloquist, songs and fictional advertisements.

Germany 2023, 72 min
by Danielle Davie, Mohamad Moe Sabbah

What is the shape of a virus? To some, it’s a kiwi, to others, it’s a butterfly, a wart or an unnameable mass. In Embodied Chorus, filmmakers Danielle Davie and Mohamad Moe Sabbah bravely open a dialogue about living with sexually transmitted infections. Drawing from their own experiences and collaborating with five actors, they turn individual testimonials – recorded across the city of Beirut – into an ensemble of personal stories and transformations. "My biggest fear is changing as a person… I feel like an outsider in my own self," says one of the people. While the experiences are distinct – in languages, gender identities and sexual orientations – they share the emotions of shock, fear, anger and shame. At times, the screen becomes a canvas that visualizes people's inner worlds: images of metamorphosis, search engine results, a body consumed by darkness. Gradually, the conversations move towards recovery and change. Confusion and stigmatization fade away, as people find acceptance within themselves. [36 IDFA]With Caroline Hatem, Basma Baydoun, Cyril Kokozaki, Hashem Adnan, Firas Hallak, Danielle Davie & Mohamad Sabbah

Switzerland, Germany 2023, 95 min
by Nicolas Humbert, Simone Fürbringer

Floating Islands is a cinematographic journey about our relationship to the world, our presence on earth, what we leave behind, what leaves its mark on us and what connects us. Floating Islands takes a free-form collection of letters, and hypnotic, at times enigmatic images and sound fragments, and assembles them with precise editing, resulting in a tender cinepoem. The film’s first letter intones: “What exactly is left of our time on earth? Everything is upended and merged: the passing of time, the meaning of our lives, our fleeting presence. (…) I know that for me, letters provide an island, a book, a fire, an expansion - like cinema.” Simone Fürbringer and Nicolas Humbert invite us on a journey through their artistic world, paying tribute to their favourite voices in cinematography. After their collaboration on Wild Plants, which was edited by Simone Fürbringer, the two filmmakers have co-directed a new, free-thinking film that explores our world. [ 54 VdR, Alice Riva]

Germany 2023, 30 min
by Martin Per Åhlin

In the ancient land of Egypt, Thoth, the deity of wisdom, cherished the power of written language, guiding civilizations through time. Far across the oceans, Ulsan in South Korea witnessed industrial growth, forging new alliances and shaping its destiny. Meanwhile, the rich oil reserves of the Middle East wove a complex web of global influence, stirring tides of power and conflict. Amidst this tapestry of history, a smart city named Neom emerged, driven by the consequences of oil production. Forever the Land, a film written by neural network GPT-3, of places intertwined by the fates of gods.

Germany 2023, 20 min
by Ayla Pierrot Arendt

GAZE IN BATTLE tries to capture and dissect personal experiences of director Ayla Pierrot Arendt in Tel Aviv and the West Bank during her summer stay in 2023 through diary entries. Something external is always present, observing and assessing. This shifts the perspective from mere observation to an intense engagement with the gaze as an affected partaker.

Germany 2023, 22 min
by Franzis Kabisch

What images do we associate with abortion and why? Where do these images and the emotional scripts in our head come from? How do they influence women who (want to) have an abortion, how do they shape the general discussion? Franzis Kabisch’s personal desktop documentary investigates these questions with great precision, clarity and humour (yes, humour, too!).In the process, she moves from early 2000s girls’ magazines to the late 19th century, sifts through troves of feminist knowledge and checks alleged cultural-historical facts (such as the discovery of hysteria in women) that haunt conventional wisdom to this day. At the end of the film, we have not only seen an exemplary examination of image politics and how they contributed to pushing the issue of abortion to the social sidelines and linking it with shame and guilt. Franzis Kabisch manages, almost 'in the same breath,' to break up the false hubris of the documentary and demonstrate that the evidential value of filmic and photographic 'testimonies' must always and implicitly be scrutinised. Ultimately, “cui bono?” – the question who profits, must be considered in every media-critical reflection – not just in the age of stock photos, editing software and AI but, strictly speaking, at the start of every documentary image production. [66DOK Leipzig, Luc-Carolin Ziemann]

Germany 2023, 65 min
by Louis Fried

In the essay film HAMMERBROOK BLUES Louis Fried goes in search of traces in theHamburg district of Hammerbrook. This area was completely destroyed 1943 during the so called 'Hamburg Firestorm' caused by fierce Allied bombings, in which the author's grandfather lost his entire former family.  Afterwards, the district was sealed off and prisoners from a nearby concentration camp had to salvage rubble and corpses, reminding the author of his other grandfather, who had to do forced labor in a concentration subcamp in Thuringia.The film interweaves historical aspects of this urban area and its development with the author's family history.

2023, 11 min
by Thomas Kutschker

'here' is a science fiction short film, a snapshot from a post-catastrophic future with flashbacks to our current present.The events that led to this devastation are just as much in the dark as the causes for the memory lapses of the protagonist of unknown gender. With the help of his questions, one can re-/construct versions of a story and possible incidents.'here' is a photographic panorama film. In multi-layered images, the film shows the effects of the impending climate catastrophe and deals with the non-linearity of our thoughts and memories.

Germany 2023, 75 min
by Anna Ilin

A road movie from a post-migrant perspective at the fringes of Europe. The region of Vojwodina in the north of Serbia is the country of origin of the filmmaker's parents. The family belongs to the Hungarian minority and emigrated to Germany in the mid 1980's. Anna Ilin drives through the landscapes of former Yugoslavia and asks herself what connection her yet unborn daughter will have to the region. A personal yet universal story about familiarity and estrangement and the ambigious state of wanting to be a part of something that might not be so easy to connect to.

2023, 32 min
by Gusztáv Hámos, Katja Pratschke

IN LIMBO is about a young man who flees from Hungary to West Berlin during the Cold War. Kiesling's story begins with his conscription into the people's army for military service. Ever since he realised that the state – in which he lives – claims ownership of him, his relationship with reality, with real freedom, has changed dramatically. He decides to reset his identity.Kiesling's attempts at self-determination are told parallel to the history of Freedom Square in Budapest. Since the imperial barracks were demolished and Freedom Square constructed in their place, those in power have erected sculptures, statues and monuments there to commemorate the struggle for freedom and the loss of liberty.

Germany, Iran 2023, 31 min
by Nafiseh Fathollahzadeh

Climate crisis, the ongoing war, water policies, and dam building across the border by the Turkish state are among the reasons contributing to the drying up of the Khabur River and the water crisis in the region. The film departs from Tell Halaf and follows the journey of its archeological collection towards Berlin, where it has resided since 1930. A magnifying glass observes the archival photographs of the excavation and deconstructs what has been framed. The excavated statues become the protagonists of the film, narrating the story. [21 doclisboa]

2023, 64 min
by Vanessa Nica Mueller

"Jamais vu is the opposite of déjà vu, a place which seems known appears strange, unknown and new. A scenery which seems familiar appears alienated, she heard."An essay about Lebanon (mainly) and Germany (also), about coastlines and plants like the marsh samphire, the milk thistle, the angel trumpet or the crimson bottlebrush. About adaptation and transformation as well as resistance, about changes desired and dreaded, the city of Beirut and its unexpected revelations, modernism and time passing by, and, of course, the hopes and fears of its inhabitants, many of whom sense that their future might wait for them across the sea, even if they don’t want to leave.All of this is presented in a wonderful collage-like narrative style that mixes and integrates different materials and techniques, as if to illustrate the following observation: "The microbiologist and evolution scientist Lynn Margulis developed in the 1960s the theory that evolution is mostly based on symbiosis and cooperation between organisms. She was a strong opponent of Darwin and his survival of the fittest theory. What she was observing in her field of microbiology strongly supports her alternative theory of evolution." [52 IFFR, Olaf Möller]

Austria, Germany 2023, 71 min
by Hans Broich

Minuet is a documentary adaptation based on the eponymous novel by the well-known Flemish author Louis Paul Boon. A man, his wife and their much younger housemaid tell us about themselves and their relationships to each other, which are characterized by mutual, furtive observation and glances.Within the iconography of this patriarchal triptych, the film’s characters grapple with their own subjective narratives and over their interpretation of the film’s recurring images.Between re-enactment and reproduction, the film and the novel’s brutal language do not even spare the director’s own private life, in turn raising the question: which of the recounted moral violations is conserved within his own four, heteronormative walls? Minuet is the terse story of an ordinary act of violence – the power to interpret a reality.With: Charlotte Brandhorst, Maximilian Brauer, Josefine Fischer a.o.

2023, 43 min
by Catalina Flórez, Jeremejewa Jelena

The essay film is inspired by Virginia Wolfs heroine Orlando, who experiences both social decline and advancement over three centuries and changes gender in between. The clash that emerges from the collision of Soviet and Nazi archival material with the affecting distorted images of German ordinariness is deeply illuminating because it operates in an anachronistic manner – private memories are intimately intertwined with collective dystopias. Through the prism of literature, a re-examination of the surviving archival heritage takes place, marginalized experiences, previously overlooked are brought to the center.

2023, 26 min
by Dane Komljen

Projekt depicts the site of the International Trade Fair in Lagos as a transhistorical conglomerate of different perspectives by becoming itself a space of encounter and collaboration.It was meant to be a place of trade, exchange and sharing. Now there are flooded rooms, flowers and weeds and snails and birds, cut fruit and cut wood, cooks and carpenters, an artificial lake and football fields, Ema’s memory of what once was here and Kendo’s view of what one can see.

Germany 2023, 17 min
by Dorothea Carl (doro carl)

The surf tosses sand on the beach, the wind blows it inland. Nothing remains as it is, or where it was. Everything is in motion: the 200-million-year-old sand, the dunes, the sea, and the countless creatures that make their home amongst its grains. Yet human interventions such as dikes, coastal protection measures, and sand filling have made the dynamic line between water and land inelastic and stiff.With: Prof. Dr. Karsten Reise, Dr Annkatrin Weber, Sabine Gettner, Björn Mehrtens, Monika Povel, Patras Scheffler

2023, 30 min
by Max Hilsamer, Anna Lauenstein

A look back at the colonial history of the Botanical Garden in Berlin Dahlem is combined with images of contemporary visions of the future: While colonial plant collections of the late 19th century tell of the categorization and domination of the 'Other', in times of climate catastrophe, notions of gardens expanding into space, soothe fears about the limits of late capitalist civilizations and impending catastrophe.

Germany 2023, 40 min
by Robert Manson

An epic poem of literary quotes, soundscapes and slide film images from the former DDR.Families on a trip, people at work, festive parades, city streets, apartment interiors. Slides depicting everyday life in the former GDR serve as a visual basis for a reflective lyrical commentary consisting of excerpts from prose and essay works by James Joyce, George Orwell, Henry James, Joseph Conrad, F. Scott Fitzgerald or Virginia Woolf. Images of specific people, places and rituals – which we learn nothing of in greater detail – acquire timeless qualities thanks to extravisual reflections on mortality, fate or the imprint that we leave behind on this world, for example through photographs.'Apparently one grows more carnal and more mortal. As one grows older, only youth has a taste of immortality.' [27 Ji.hlava]With Naima Laube, Ben Plunkett-Reynolds.