Films by Tobias Wilhelmer

Germany, Libanon, Qatar 2022, 90 min
by Lea Najjar

Above Beirut flies an unexpected bearer of hope: the pigeon game "Kash Hamam". During the recent dystopian political collapse, we embark on a journey from roof to roof and observes a city in turmoil from the perspective of three pigeon players and a young girl fighting to release her own birds.Under the golden sun of Beirut, men stand on rooftops and shoot oranges at the sky. They do this to scare their pigeons, make them fly further, and make them stronger. They play the game Kash Hamam, where you have to lure the other players’ pigeons into your own pigeon loft. If you succeed, there’s Kash. And then you cut the feathers off the pigeon. Or feed it to the cats. Lea Najjar’s cinematic debut is a vital portrait of her hometown Beirut. A city hit by a corrupt elite, popular protests and one of the biggest explosions of the 21st century. But also a city where its hard-pressed citizens come together and form communities despite the chaos. On the flat rooftops high above the labyrinthine streets, we meet three men who have bonded over their love of pigeons – and a girl who dreams of entering the masculine game, Kash Hamam. A vivid, impressionistic snapshot from an already eminent director. [CPH:DOX]“From a tiny anecdote this film expands its cinematic universe and unveils the disillusionment of an entire city – an entire country. From the opening scene’s claustrophobic setting, to the final wide eye of an artificial pigeon, witnessing the place it took flight from. We, the jury, wish to give this year’s Next:Wave Award to a piece of delicate yet vigorous cinema: ‘Kash Kash – Without Feathers We Can’t Live’” [Jury CPH:DOX]

Germany 2021, 94 min
by Johannes Preuss, Marius Brüning

José is born on the floor of a mud hut in a Bolivian mountain village. He is the fourth child of a herdswoman. A few month later he arrives at the house of his adoptive family in Germany. José Noé Estrada becomes Manuel Phillip Sosnowski. 30 years later he makes the journey back into his mother's country for the first time in his life. A film about the search for belonging.

Germany 2020, 70 min
by Tim Ellrich, Thi Hien Mai

Bay and Tam are a Vietnamese couple who have been living in Germany for the past 30 years. They work as office cleaners by night and rarely come into contact with German society. By day they spend all their time online, maintaining a virtual connection to their homeland via Skype and karaoke chatrooms. But when a storm destroys their house in Vietnam, their virtual bubble bursts. Tam desperately tries to organize the repairs remotely, while Bay’s priorities begin to shift, and she studies German in anticipation of the birth of their grandchild in Germany. She sees her future forming there, while for Tam it becomes more important than ever to focus on his family in Vietnam. Is home a place or a state of mind? Mein Vietnam is a vivid illustration of living in two places at once, and that duality’s consequences on marriage, family and a sense of belonging. (Hot Docs, Angie Driscoll)

Germany 2020, 65 min
by Johannes Preuss

"The second largest film industry in the world" (UNESCO) is called Nollywood and is based in Lagos, Nigeria. The industry is famous for fast produced low-budget films sold on street markets across Africa. In recent years, however, the industry is changing. The Internet offers easy access to worldwide distribution and multiplex cinemas sprout in Africa's mega cities. The bustling industry draws a unique mix of artists and businessmen to Lagos.  Director Abba Makama dreams of an intellectual cinematic movement, a sort of Nigerian New Wave. Bastian Gotter, a young investor from Berlin, almost by accident, co-founded Africa's largest movie streaming service. Producer Don Omope believes the time has come for a his generation of filmmakers, "we are here to become the Tarantinos and Steven Spielbergs of Nigeria."