A film by Matt Johnson. In English, with German subtitles.

[Credits] [Tickets & Termine] [Trailer]

Two mis­mat­ched entre­pre­neurs – egg­head inno­va­tor Mike Lazaridis and cut-throat busi­ness­man Jim Balsillie – joi­n­ed forces in an endea­vour that was to beco­me a world­wi­de hit in litt­le more than a deca­de. The device that one of them inven­ted and the other sold was the BlackBerry, an addic­ti­ve mobi­le pho­ne that chan­ged the way the world work­ed, play­ed and com­mu­ni­ca­ted. But just as BlackBerry was rising to new peaks, it also star­ted losing its way through the fog of Smartphone wars, manage­ment inde­cis­i­on and out­side dis­trac­tions, even­tual­ly lea­ding to the break­down of one of the most suc­cessful ven­tures in the histo­ry of the tech and busi­ness worlds.
In his ear­lier works (The Dirties, Operation Avalanche), Matt Johnson has pro­ven how irre­sis­ti­ble an urge it is for cine­as­tes equip­ped with a came­ra to cap­tu­re on film that which seems incre­di­ble, or even impos­si­ble. His are the sto­ries of see­mingly unre­mar­kab­le indi­vi­du­als who are tempt­ed to achie­ve some­thing that nobo­dy else has. Coupled with his own brand of sava­ge humour, Johnson ama­zes us with this sto­ry of two Canadian guys who, in bet­ween movie nights, inven­ted the tool that, for bet­ter or worse, chan­ged our way of doing pret­ty much everything.

Credits:

CA 2023, 121 Min., engl. OmU
Regie: Matt Johnson
Kamera: Jared Raab
Schnitt:Curt Lobb
mit Jay Baruchel, Glenn Howerton, Matt Johnson, Cary Elwes, Saul Rubinek, Michael Ironside, Rich Sommer, Sungwon Cho, Michelle Giroux, Mark Critch

Trailer:

OmU!

nach oben

A film by Tatsunari Ota. In japa­ne­se with German subtitles.

[Credits] [Tickets & Termine] [Trailer]

As ele­gant and decep­tively simp­le as its title, Tatsunari Ota’s Ishi ga aru, redu­ces nar­ra­ti­ve and plot to ques­ti­ons of time, move­ment, and encoun­ter.
The film opens with a name­l­ess woman arri­ving in a small town, out of see­ming nowhe­re. “Is the­re any­thing nice around here?” she asks a local, “Something fasci­na­ting?” Her inquiry met with a near-blank sta­re, she thus drifts, even­tual­ly encoun­tering a man skip­ping stones by the river. Together they pass the after­noon enga­ged in playful out­door acti­vi­ties like balan­cing sticks, stack­ing stones and more. Finally, they part – their time tog­e­ther curtail­ed by the ine­vi­ta­ble waning day­light – with the unex­pec­ted emo­tio­nal import of their time tog­e­ther left ripp­ling like the water over one of their sub­mer­ged peb­bles.
While struc­tu­red around cen­tral cha­rac­ters and nar­ra­ti­ve in natu­re, the film invi­tes a form of spec­ta­tor­ship more clo­se­ly asso­cia­ted with dance or per­for­mance art. Throughout, Ota empha­si­s­es the phy­si­cal and emo­tio­nal exch­an­ges bet­ween stran­gers, as well as bet­ween humans and natu­re. As if in respon­se to the woman’s ear­ly query, Ishi ga aru quiet­ly reo­ri­ents our expec­ta­ti­ons and under­stan­ding of fascination.

Credits:

Ishi ga aru – 石がある
Jp 2022, 104 Min., japan. OmU
Regie: Tatsunari Ota
Kamera: Yuji Fukaya
Schnitt: Keiko Okawa
mit:An Ogawa, Tsuchi Kanou

Trailer:

nach oben

A film by Colm Bairéad. In Gaelic and English with German subtitles.

[Credits] [Tickets & Termine] [Trailer]

“There are no secrets in this house. Do you hear me? … If the­re are secrets in a house, the­re is shame in that house.”

Four siblings, a mother torn bet­ween care and hel­p­less­ness, a cur­sing father and a wet mat­tress every mor­ning: the­se are the things that make up quiet young Cáit’s life. Her par­ents deci­de it’s best if she spends the sum­mer at the farm of two rela­ti­ves she has never met. Lush green trees flank the road lea­ding up to their pro­per­ty, a respectful silence per­va­ding their bright, clean house. Here, ten­der­ly loo­ked after by Eibhlín, Cáit final­ly feels loved and safe. Initial aloof­ness like­wi­se starts giving way to a deeper bond bet­ween her and Seán, with whom she feeds the cal­ves. The mat­tress stays dry. And yet, in the midst of the scrag­gly beau­ty of the Irish coun­try­si­de, cer­tain secrets seem to lin­ger, which Cáit beg­ins to face with new­found cou­ra­ge and confidence.

Credits:

An Cailín Ciúin
IR 2022, 95 Min., gälisch, eng­li­sche OmU
Regie: Colm Bairéad
Kamera: Kate McCullough
Schnitt: John Murphy
mit: Carrie Crowley, Andrew Bennett, Catherine Clinch

Trailer:

nach oben

A film by Christina Ebelt. In German.

[Credits] [Tickets & Termine] [Trailer]

Sandra is impul­si­ve. Sandra is in jail. Sandra is also pregnant. A cine­ma­tic tour de force with a fan­ta­sti­cal­ly ira­te protagonist.

Far along in her pregnan­cy, Sandra is ada­mant that her child remain with her after it is born, even though she is ser­ving a pri­son sen­tence. The social worker and the youth wel­fa­re office are skep­ti­cal about whe­ther she in a con­di­ti­on to rai­se the child. They fear that if Sandra is sub­jec­ted to stress, she will revert to her old pat­tern of beha­vi­or and lose her com­po­sure. Only through flash­backs cle­ver­ly woven into the nar­ra­ti­ve do we learn how ever­y­thing could have come to this.

Credits:

DE 2023, 94 Min.
Regie: Christina Ebelt
Kamera: Bernhard Keller
Schnitt: Florian Riedel
mit Franziska Hartmann, Slavko Popadić, Martina Eitner-Acheampong

Trailer:

nach oben

A film by Lila Avilés. In Spanish with German and English subtitles.

[Credits] [Tickets & Termine] [Trailer]

In her second film after The Chambermaid in 2018, Lila Avilés lea­ves behind the cram­ped hotel rooms of her debut but con­ti­nues to work on the con­nec­tion bet­ween rela­ti­onships and inte­ri­or spaces. This time, the set­ting is a lar­ge house whe­re, over the cour­se of a long day, fami­ly and fri­ends meet for a dual ritu­al: it is the bir­th­day of young father and pain­ter Tona, but as it will likely be his last, it is also a fare­well cerem­o­ny. There is dua­li­ty in the film’s soul, too, with the fren­zy of pre­pa­ra­ti­ons and the spon­ta­n­ei­ty of the cele­bra­ti­on con­ce­al­ing the pro­found­ly archaic and spi­ri­tu­al dimen­si­on of the title. Tona’s wea­k­en­ed body is initi­al­ly invi­si­ble, pro­tec­ted in a room whe­re he tri­es to sum­mon up the strength requi­red for the huma­nist cerem­o­ny in which he will be show­e­red with all the love and affec­tion nee­ded to face his final jour­ney.
Like the cha­rac­ter of the bon­sai-loving patri­arch, Avilés takes meti­cu­lous care in sha­ping her own minia­tu­re, ben­ding tra­jec­to­ries and fee­lings, pru­ning all frills and excess. A film that pre­pa­res for loss, Tótem amas­ses signs and forms of life: ani­mals, insects, plants and a para­de of won­derful human beings who are stron­ger together.

Credits:

MX DK FR 2023 95 Minuten
spa­ni­sche OmU (deut­sche und eng­li­sche Untertitel)
Regie, Buch: Lila Avilés
Kamera: Diego Tenorio
Schnitt: Omar Guzmán
mit: Naíma Sentíes
Monserrat Marañon
Marisol Gasé
Saori Gurza
Teresita Sánchez

Trailer:

nach oben

A Film by Diego Llorente.

[Credits] [Tickets & Termine] [Trailer]

Marta loves her new life in Madrid with boy­fri­end Leo, but when a trip home for the sum­mer rea­wa­kens an old romance, she beg­ins to ques­ti­on her choices.

Credits:

ES 2023, 83 Min., span. OmU
Regie: Diego Llorente
Kamera: Adrián Hernandez
Schnitt: Diego Llorente
mit: Katia Borlado, Antonio Araque, Álvaro Quintana, Rocío Suáre

Trailer:

nach oben

A film by Jan Schmidt-Garre.

[Credits] [Tickets & Termine] [Trailer]

Balkrishna Doshi (1927−2023) is one of India’s most influ­en­ti­al 20th cen­tu­ry archi­tects and reci­pi­ent of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. Doshi and his prac­ti­ce Vastu-Shilpa has a port­fo­lio span­ning over 70 years, inclu­ding col­la­bo­ra­ti­ons with both Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn. The film intro­du­ces view­ers to his famous buil­dings and offers an exclu­si­ve look into his work pro­cess. Doshi shares his sources of inspi­ra­ti­on and moti­va­ti­on and is also a bril­li­ant sto­rytel­ler. His pre­sence of mind, his humor and his wis­dom crea­te the image of a man from whom we can not only learn to build human­ly, but from whom we can learn – to be human.

Credits:

Das Versprechen – Architekt BV Doshi
D 2023, 90 Min., engl. OmU
Regie: Jan Schmidt-Garre
Kamera: Diethard Prengel
Schnitt: Sarah. J. Levine


Trailer:

nach oben

A film by Justine Triet. In French with German subtitles.

[Credits] [Tickets & Termine] [Trailer]

Sandra, Samuel and their visual­ly impai­red son Daniel have been living in a remo­te moun­tain loca­ti­on for the past year. When Samuel is found dead out­side the house, an inves­ti­ga­ti­on for death in sus­pi­cious cir­cum­s­tances is laun­ched. Amidst the uncer­tain­ty, Sandra is indic­ted: Was it sui­ci­de or homic­i­de ? A year later Daniel attends his mother’s tri­al, a veri­ta­ble dis­sec­tion of his par­ents’ relationship.

Cannes: Palme d’or 2023

Credits:

Anatomie d’u­ne chu­te
FR 2023, 151 Min., frz. OmU
Regie: Justine Triet
Kamera: Simon Beaufils
Schnitt: Laurent Sénéchal
mit: Sandra Hüller, Swann Arlaud, Milo Machado Graner, Antoine Reinartz, Samuel Theis, Jehnny Beth, Saadia Bentaïeb, Camille Rutherford

Trailer:

nach oben

A film by Luc und Jean-Pierre Dardenne.
In French with German subtitles.

[Credits] [Tickets & Termine] [Trailer]

The out­stan­ding new film from acclai­med film­ma­kers the Dardenne brot­hers is an abso­lut­e­ly stun­ning pie­ce of work. Following a young boy (Tori) and a teenage girl (Lokita) who have left their home count­ries of Cameroon and Benin to make a new life in Belgium, we fol­low their jour­ney as they navi­ga­te a ran­ge of dif­fi­cult and chal­len­ging expe­ri­en­ces. Whether it be fin­ding jobs on the black mar­ket or working to send money back to their fami­lies, their fri­end­ship pro­vi­des an unbre­aka­ble bond that helps them sur­vi­ve. Hoping to get their papers to remain in the coun­try, they soon find that the­re are an array of forces sta­cked against them. They must fight for both their fri­end­ship and their lives as their world slow­ly beg­ins to crum­ble. Clinging to the hope of a bet­ter life, their strugg­le is a grip­ping tes­ta­ment to the power of the human spi­rit and the cou­ra­ge of their relationship.

Credits:

BE/FR 2022, 88 Min., frz. OmU
Regie & Buch: Luc und Jean-Pierre Dardenne
Kamera: Benoît Dervaux
Schnitt: Marie-Hélène Dozo, Valène Leroy
mit: Pablo Schils, Joely Mbundu, Marc Zinga, Nadège Ouedraogo, Charlotte De Bruyne

Trailer:

nach oben

A film by Margarethe von Trotta. In German, French and English with German subtitles.

[Credits] [Tickets & Termine] [Trailer]

She is Austrian, he Swiss; she is a poet, he a play­w­right; she is a dare­de­vil yet vul­nerable, he is adven­tur­ous but a litt­le con­ser­va­ti­ve. When Ingeborg Bachmann and Max Frisch meet for the first time in Paris in the sum­mer of 1958, they are alre­a­dy inter­na­tio­nal cele­bri­ties of the lite­ra­ry world. In the four years that fol­low, they dabb­le in gre­at love and an open rela­ti­onship bet­ween his home­town of Zurich and her adopted Rome. Frisch envies her fame; Bachmann finds his type­wri­ter clat­ter and his jea­lou­sy annoy­ing. She is eman­ci­pa­ted, expe­ri­ments with a libe­ra­ted exis­tence, is mobi­le and pro­duc­ti­ve; in Berlin, she wri­tes the famous speech: “The Truth is Bearable for Humankind”. She only rea­li­ses after­wards that she is suf­fe­ring, and by how much – with Adolf Opel in the desert, and with Hans Werner Henze in Italy. Margarethe von Trotta inter­wea­ves the times befo­re and after the cata­stro­phe. Her direc­tion is frank, sober and ele­gant. Ronald Zehrfeld as the cor­pu­lent, pipe-smo­king Frisch and Vicky Krieps (in the role of ano­ther cult figu­re after Empress Sisi) are the per­fect match. This film is not about Bachmann’s fatal end, but about her hopes for love and respect, in lite­ra­tu­re, and in life.

Credits:

Schweiz / Österreich / Deutschland / Luxemburg 2023
Deutsch, Französisch, Italienisch OmU
Regie & Buch: Margarethe von Trotta
Kamera: Martin Gschlacht
Schnitt: Hansjörg Weißbrich
Mit: Vicky Krieps, Ronald Zehrfeld, Tobias Resch, Basil Eidenbenz, Luna Wedler, Marc Limpach, Roberto Carpentieri, Katharina Schmalenberg

Trailer:

nach oben