German Competition

Ach So

written & directed by Alina Piddubna (2000)

DE · 2022 · 2 min

Festival 2023

I rented a very small room in Berlin (which reminds me of a coffin) and have very strange dreams there.

Alex & Lukas - Wanderlast

directed by Regina Grimm (2001)
written by Alexander Diosegi, Lukas Brennecke

DE · 2023 · 6 min

Festival 2023

What is "wanderlast"? Find out yourself!

Alles gehört zu dir

directed by Hien Nguyen & Mani Pham Bui (2001)
written by Mani Pham Bui, Kimsa Nguyen, Bao Nguyen, Hien Nguyen, Tommy Vu Nguyen

DE · 2023 · 13 min

Festival 2023

For many German-Vietnamese people like Yen Nguyen, the feeling of being different or not feeling like they belong is well known. Instinctively, she wants to fit in with the crowd in the small German town, be more white, and have more German friends. From her new life in Oslo, 900 km away from her family, she embarks on a journey back to her roots.

Anomalia

written & directed by Antonia Grunicke (1997)

DE · 2022 · 20 min

Festival 2023

Claire is an objectophile. That means she is more attracted to objects than to people. At home she guards a collection of selected favourites but she has not found the great love yet. She is looking for the last missing piece of the puzzle to complete her collection.

recommended for ages 12 and up

BABYBOY

directed by Jannik Weiße (1995)
written by Jannik Weiße, Dang An Tran, Maximilian Welker

DE · 2023 · 48 min

Festival 2023

Vincent is 16 and wants to fulfill everything that makes a boy a man: leaving home, gaining recognition on his football team and sleeping with his girlfriend. But between his first love and his parents' separation lies Vincent's deep longing to feel at home again somewhere.

Bis Montag (Till Monday)

written & directed by Dominik J. Gasser & Emma Lou Paleit (1996, 1999)

DE · 2023 · 15 min

Festival 2023

At the weekend in the empty school, the student Fred tests out what he cannot show in everyday life. But there is someone else who feels the same way…

Body Image

written & directed by Fee Fuchs (1998)

DE · 2023 · 1 min

Festival 2023

"Body Image" deals with body image disorders and the distorted perceptions with which we view ourselves compared to how the outside world perceives us.

recommended for ages 12 and up

Border Conversations

written & directed by Jonathan Brunner (1996)

DE · 2022 · 30 min

Festival 2023

Border Conversations is set in November 2021 as thousands of migrants enter the EU via Poland‘s border with Belarus. The film follows the shift of two Polish activists, Karolina and Kornelia, and their confrontation with the limits of humanitarian aid.

Catch up!

written & directed by Anton & Justus Krämer (2003,2006)

DE · 2023 · 11 min

Festival 2023

When two bears' thriving but illegal business is overwhelmed by technological progress, they decide to move from their village to an anonymous big city. In the unusually hectic environment they find a new purpose in music, but their criminal past catches up with them again...

Comme je suis, comme tu es (How I am, how you are)

written & directed by Alexandra Kurt (1997)

DE · 2022 · 5 min

Festival 2023

A dark room, a passionate encounter - and then everything is different.

recommended for ages 12 and up

Daddy

directed by Ella Knorz (2000)
written by Beatrix Rinke, Ella Knorz

DE · 2023 · 11 min

Festival 2023

Alsie is unhappy and alone, but today she will finally meet her "daddy". However, the evening with her dad does not go as smooth as she envisioned it. To really feel comforted Alsiee will have to open up and make herself vulnerable…

Ein Schwimmzug tiefer

directed by Anouk Segebart & Liv Heyden (2007)
written by Anouk Segebart & Liv Heyden, Fillin Mayer, Mila Driedger

DE · 2023 · 17 min

Festival 2023

It's a normal summer at the lake among young people. Or is there toxic masculinity simmering that destroys the possibilities of closeness, of immersing yourself in deeper connections with others and yourself?

Fast Nah (Somethings missing)

directed by Lea Marie Lembke (1997)
written by Lea Marie Lembke,Thi Dang An Tran,Tobit Kochanek

DE · 2022 · 14 min

Festival 2023

A summer during the pandemic, hiking in the mountains on long, empty paths together with a stranger - an exciting idea. But expectations of a perfect encounter call the meaning of the journey into question.

heimweh (homesick)

written & directed by Maja Bresink (1998)

DE · 2022 · 7 min

Festival 2023

"When I was a child, my mother said to me that my body is my home. - I'm homesick." A woman's voice talks about the state of her body after a male sexual assault.

recommended for ages 12 and up

Imaginärer Freund

written & directed by Aimée Vollmer (2007)

DE · 2022 · 4 min

Festival 2023

A young girl describes her life with her best friend Jonas. There's just one problem: Jonas doesn't really exist…

INTIMITÄT (INTIMACY)

directed by Jonas Erler (1999)
written by Philipp Laue, Jonas Erler

DE · 2022 · 21 min

Festival 2023

Summer. Heat. Sweat. Children's laughter. All becomes dark. A teenage fairy tale.

Ist der Platz noch frei?

written & directed by Friedrich Schätzle (2000)

DE · 2023 · 4 min

Festival 2023

Everyday life, subway. There is still one place available. But there's a small puddle on it. Will someone sit in there or will the other passengers prevent it? And do we enjoy watching the inevitable?

Jesus lebt (Jesus is alive)

written & directed by Dominic Wittrin & Piet Grünberg (1995)

DE · 2022 · 13 min

Festival 2023

On her birthday, Mara returns to her religious childhood home to celebrate with her mentally ill mother. However, the estranged woman now believes herself to be Jesus.

Kaugummi (Chewing Gum)

written & directed by Dascha Petuchow (1996)

DE · 2022 · 29 min

Festival 2023

Plagued by the monotony of a chewy small-town summer break, 16-year-old Tati longs for an adventure. When her mother gets in the way of her desire for freedom, Tati finds refuge with her best friend. Between youthful recklessness and the fear of missing out and fueled by canned beer and euphoria, her fight against the sunrise begins.

My little rabbit

directed by Ira Sliusar (1995)
written by Ira Sliusar, Sabrina Holzapfel

DE · 2022 · 14 min

Festival 2023

Young autistic Hannah visits her father and his pregnant fiancée Laura. They meet for the first time. Hannah has many special needs, rituals, games and tries to make Laura play by her rules.

Not Close Enough To You

directed by Lea Haufler (1998)
written by Franziska Krieg, Lea Haufler

DE · 2023 · 4 min

Festival 2023

The music video tells the story of the two close friends Paula and Hannah, in which Paula realizes that she feels more than just friendship for Hannah. Paula's process of realizing these feelings comes with lots of challenging emotions.

Pickles

written & directed by Oleksandra Krasavtseva (1995)

DE · 2023 · 3 min

Festival 2023

Olena and Katya are two neighbours who lives on the border of two countries. When war begins and their world turns upside down.

Pieces of Advice

directed by Maja Rode (2002)
written by Maja Rode, Hugo Ziegler

DE · 2023 · 6 min

Festival 2023

This is how you become beautiful, this is how you become rich!' Everywhere we are surrounded with ways to improve ourselves. On social media we see how perfect everyone else is. There is the right guide for every optimization, whether as a book, podcast or coach.

Plus Minus

written & directed by Madita Rutten (1996)

DE · 2023 · 13 min

Festival 2023

Am I or am I not? It takes a lot of time to think about it until the result is available...

Randleben

written & directed by Lilith Jörg (2007)

DE · 2023 · 9 min

Festival 2023

The dreary everyday life of a homeless woman suddenly changes when she finds a cell phone and thus gets in touch with young Mia. An unexpected connection emerges between the two women and their different lives.

SABOTAGE

written & directed by Lucas Nensel (2002)

DE · 2022 · 14 min

Festival 2023

Directors assistant Annika works in a theater institution with a rigorous power structure. As everyone is under confusion of the whereabouts of the key actors shoes, the production crumbles and Annika has to make a decision.

TABU LA RASA

written & directed by Emma Bading (1998)

DE · 2022 · 5 min

Festival 2023

“What if I had just dared?” Thea's perfectly composed life suddenly gets completely out of sync due to this all-questioning mind game.

TAVETA

directed by Ann-Marie Schwanke (2000)
written by Ann-Marie Schwanke, Jorinde Fritsch, Melina Steude

DE · 2023 · 26 min

Festival 2023

Taveta meets the older X and falls in love with her. But X is already engaged to Y and even expecting a baby. The film exaggerates the story of a young woman who makes questionable decisions because of past experiences.

The Spell

written & directed by Diego Oliva Tejeda (1998)

DE · 2023 · 11 min

Festival 2023

After being exploited by The Hand for far too long, a small group of sweatshop seamstresses organizes a ritual to summon an incredible power to achieve better working conditions for themselves. But is this power strong enough to overtake the might of The Hand?

Unsere Zeit, unser Zustand (Our Time, Our Condition)

written & directed by Christiane Muñoz (1998)

DE · 2023 · 11 min

Festival 2023

In fragments three cis-women talk about their living conditions, unseen experiences of violence and their own entrenched thought patterns. Not showing their faces offers them a protection that was missing in their previous experiences.

recommended for ages 12 and up

URLAUBSVERSUCHE

directed by Paula Milena Weise & Finn Ole Weigt (1999)
written by Anton Artibilov

DE · 2023 · 16 min

Festival 2023

What is next - or is it already over? Two friends make an attempt to go on vacation to the Baltic Sea. Soon their lack of perspective becomes a problem in their friendship.

Velhice (Old Age)

directed by
written & directed by Anna-Maria Dutoit (1997)

DE · 2023 · 8 min

Festival 2023

A landscape remembers how it developed into the mountain it is today. From glacial tongues to raging wildfires, the story is a reminiscence of the human impact on landscapes.

Von Juni bis Juli (From June to July)

written & directed by Sophie Lahusen & Zhamilya Sakhari (1996)

DE · 2022 · 29 min

Festival 2023

“From June to July” is the poetic portrait of the unlikely sisters Hannah and Sara, who the documentary follows over the course of a summer. Hannah is 19 and severely disabled; she will never be able to do the things on her own that her little sister Sara takes for granted.

Wasserbären-Boy (Waterbear-Boy)

directed by Cornelius Baum (2004)
written by Kasper Rafn, Cornelius Baum

DE · 2022 · 25 min

Festival 2023

Tom lives in his own world and would like to be a superhero who fights for justice. When a small amoeba-like animal crawls into his ear, his wish could come true.

ZOE

directed by Daniel Huss (1996)
written by Elena Herbst, Daniel Huss

DE · 2023 · 12 min

Festival 2023

Caring for her father for years, Zoe can't stop taking responsibility for everyone and risks losing her son.