05.08. - 09.08.2026

Feature-length films

Friday, August 08

She Rises Up

11:00 a.m., Stadthalle

Documentary, USA, 2023, 91 min.
Director: Maureen Castle Tusty
Language: English, UT: German

Supporting film: A Walk in the Park (K.I. generated)
Language: Hebrew, UT: German/English

Description

In many countries, laws still prevent women from working, owning property or opening a bank account - with serious consequences for poverty.

This documentary follows three impressive female entrepreneurs: Gladys Yupanqui (Peru), Magatte Wade (Senegal) and Selyna Peiris (Sri Lanka), who are creating new prospects for their communities with their local businesses.

"She Rises Up" impressively shows how important small, local companies are for economic participation and the empowerment of women - and what they can achieve where international corporations fail.

The first track

+ Live Q&A with the filmmakers

1:00 p.m., Stadthalle

Narrative, Germany / Deutschland, 2024, 77 min.
Director: Gero Brötz, Markus Veith
Language: German, UT: English

Supporting film: Hunter Hunted (short film narrative)
Language: English, UT: German

Description

When Kai Trollmann misses the last subway train on a Sunday evening, he meets a mysterious woman in the abandoned station who claims to be his daughter from the future.

She wants to kill him - for scientific reasons, to research the time paradox phenomenon and to erase her own messed-up existence.

But over the course of a long night, their plans begin to falter. While they wait, Helen tells Kai about their future life together and its disastrous course, changing not only the future but also herself.

The Winter Within

+ Live Q&A with the filmmakers

2:00 pm, Kinopolis

Narrative, India, France, Qatar, 2022, 99 min.
Director: Aamir Bashir
OV, UT: English/German

Supporting film: Ben's birthday (short film about integration)
Language: German, UT: English

Description

In Srinagar, Nargis searches for her missing husband Manzoor until she is hopelessly forced to return to her village.

With a little help from the local Yaseen, she quietly works on an exquisite fabric.

But the silence of the Kashmiri winter is like the silence of a graveyard waiting to be torn apart by what lies buried within.

Film for Kids I

3:00 p.m., Stadthalle

The Last Gunfight... yet!
France, 2024, 3 min.
Director: Pablo Tréhin-Marçot
Without language

PAULA'S DAD and the right button in his head
Germany, 2023, 40 min.
Director: Thomas Heinemann
Language: German, UT: English

Description

The Last Gunfight... yet!

The Wild West, its merciless universe, its heroes from another time ... The main street under a blazing sun. Two creatures duel under the astonished gaze of the spectators and the sheriff. It's the last shootout ... yet!

PAULA'S DAD and the right button in his head

Paula's father writes stories for children - but has no time for his own daughter. After a heated argument, Paula runs out onto the balcony and refuses to come down. But suddenly a mysterious storm carries her into the mountains, straight into the world of the Wind Ripper children. But here's the catch: her father invented this world just for a story. And now Paula is living it. A whimsical, imaginative adventure about loneliness, fantasy and the desire to be seen.

Happiness Is a Wild Beast

4:15 pm, Stadthalle

Narrative, France, 2025, 95 min.
Director: Bertrand Guerry
Language: French, UT: German, English

Supporting film: Confession (short film narrative)
Language: English, UT: German

Description

A bear is spotted on the island of Yeu. In the moonlight, the islanders - one more bizarre than the next - set off to find it.

Over the course of a week, the shared search for happiness turns into a magical, whimsical adventure that addresses themes such as loss and absence - as a tribute to the power of nature and humanity.

The Mystery of Musica Cubana - La CLave

+ Live Q&A with the filmmakers

5:00 pm, Kinopolis

Documentary, Germany, 2022, 86 min.
Director: Kurt Hartel
Language: Spanish, UT: German

Supporting film: "Staircase Stomp" by The Clamor (Music Video)
Language: English, UT: German

Description

The rhythm of the clave is the heartbeat of Cuba!

In Havana's vibrant music scene, African and European influences merge to create rousing sounds and lively traditions. Whether Latin jazz, Buena Vista Social Club or salsa - music is omnipresent: on the streets, in the schools, in the hearts of the people.

"The Mystery of Musica Cubana - La Clave" is a moving tribute to Cuba's musical roots with legends such as Bobby Carcassés, Cesar Lopez, Enrique Pla, Alain Perez as well as up-and-coming talent from Cuba's free music schools and the island's infectious passion for rhythm.

What connects us

Opening movie

6:30 pm, Stadthalle

Narrative, France, 2024, 105 min.
Director: Carine Tardieu
Language: French, UT: German/English

Description

Sandra (VALERIA BRUNI TEDESCHI), a single woman in her fifties, lives an independent life free from convention.

When the couple from the apartment next door have to go to hospital to give birth to their child, Sandra reluctantly agrees to look after them.
Elliott's young son and has no idea that he will become an important caregiver for the whole family.

What began as temporary help has led to a
unexpectedly deep bond.

Saturday, August 9

A Dinner to Remember

+ Live Q&A with the filmmakers

11:00 a.m., Stadthalle

Narrative, Germany, 2025, 47 min.
Director: Leonardo Re
Language: German, UT: English

Supporting film: The Smith (Short film / Experimental)
Without language

Description

Maike is now Mike. But the revelation of several explosive truths makes this dinner with friends not exactly the ideal moment for a coming out.

Baba Kush

12:15 pm, Stadthalle

Narrative, Germany, 2024, 93 min.
Director: Leon Kluth
Language: German, UT: English

Supporting film: The Woman on a Beach (short film / experimental)
Without language

Description

Teenagers Max and Uli are surprised by the police while smoking weed in a phone booth.

They lock the door and are now trapped - the police officers outside, the two boys inside. A confrontation ensues in a confined space.

As the night progresses, the two realize that they are no longer friends.

Film for Kids II

2:00 pm, Kinopolis

Starfood - Sushi in Space
Germany 2024, 12 min.
Director: Daniel Raboldt
Language: German, UT: English

Tremolo
Germany, 2024, 21 min.
Director: Leonard Julius Mink
 Language: German, UT: English

Behind the Door
Netherlands, 2025, 17 min.
Director: Justus van den Elsen
Language: Dutch, UT: German/English

Description

Starfood - Sushi in Space

In a galaxy not so far away, the world of the two moons "Alpha Moon" and "Beta Moon" is very divided. While life on "Alpha" is affluent, luxurious and elegant - with plenty of food, culture and cultivated conversation - life on "Beta" is very different. There, people live in an industrial landscape, work hard for little bad food and breathe bad air - just to provide "Alpha" with the best things.
But a small piece of sushi flying through space will change everything.

Tremolo

After a long time, a deaf boy meets his father again - a musician who does not speak sign language. But over the course of a long weekend, father and son discover that they have a common language: music.

Behind the Door

Ten-year-old Joris loves to draw and admires his famous grandfather, whom he has never met but has always dreamed of being taught by.
When his grandfather falls seriously ill, Joris sneaks into his house and is invited into a magical world of paintings. Grandfather and grandson find each other through art. But the rules are strict, and Joris wonders: should he follow his grandfather's style - or his own?
A touching story about fantasy, family heritage and the difficult bonds between generations.

Golden Era of
Skateboarding

2:30 pm, Stadthalle

Documentary, USA, 2024, 68 min.
Director: Eddie "El Gato" Elguera, Alfredo M.R. Vicente
Language: English, UT: German

Supporting movie: Guber! (short film narrative)
Language: English, UT: German

Description

This documentary series sheds light on a formative phase of skateboarding history that has hardly been documented to date.

Between the Lord's of Dogtown and the Bones Brigade of the 1970s and the rise of stars like Tony Hawk and Christian Hosoi in the 1980s and 90s, a generation revolutionized vertical skateboarding and laid the foundation for today's global sport.

With previously unreleased archive footage, interviews and recordings of legendary contests - from the Hester Series to the Gold Cup - the series reunites the pioneers at the El Gato Classic Legends Weekend after more than 40 years.

House of Cards
(House of cards)

+ Live Q&A with the filmmakers

4:15 pm, Stadthalle

Narrative, Germany, 2024, 96 min.
Director: Jurij Neumann
Language: English, UT: German

Supporting film: Las volse des adleux (short film narrative)
Language: french, UT: german

Description

House of Cards is a drama about friendship, self-deception and the pressure to always have everything under control.

In the middle of the wedding preparations, Mara is left by her fiancé - but when her friends Eva and Karlotta turn up at the door with a hen party already planned, she plays the happy bride.

The three women celebrate a weekend full of pretense in a chic villa on Mallorca. When their partners suddenly turn up, the facades begin to crumble. How honest are we with each other - and what if everything doesn't work out in the end?

Raindrop -
The journey of water

5:00 pm, Kinopolis

Documentary, Switzerland, 2025, 100 min.
Director: Marco Dominik Graf
Language: German, UT: English

Supporting movie: ORANGE BLUES 24 (Music Video)
Language: English

Description

Water means life - but its hidden worlds are disappearing.

Raindrop takes us into the last untouched aquatic habitats where rare and iconic animals experience moving stories of survival, beauty, humor and even love. Filmed over four years, the documentary shows breathtaking scenes that hardly anyone has ever seen.

The focus is not on landscapes, but on the fascinating creatures for which water is home - in a nature as it should be, and as it could soon no longer exist.

Dream novella

6:30 pm, Stadthalle

Narrative, Germany, 2023, 109 min.
Director: Florian Frerichs
Language: English, UT: German

Supporting film: Deadline (short film animation)
Language: Hebrew, UT: English, German

Description

A colorful adaptation of Schnitzler's work in which a woman confesses to her husband that she has fantasies with other people - and thus sparks his desire for his own adventures.

Set in modern, permissive Berlin, the film is far more than just a simple reboot of Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut".

Sunday, August 10

Changing Sides

- Part of the award ceremony -

11:00 a.m., Elaya

Documentary, Germany, 2025, 122 min.
Director: Loraine Blumenthal
Language: German, UT: English

Supporting film: Something new in the East (short film Integration)

Description

Thomas "Eichi" Eichstätt coaches the soccer club FC Pio in eastern Germany. Many of the young players have fled their home countries and are struggling with finding a job, acceptance and their past.

Eichi is a father figure to many, but also looks back on a dark time as a right-wing extremist.

All you can watch

In the Festival Pass includes our feature films, the opening evening and all workshops.

This is your guarantee of a great weekend.

All tickets at a glance

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