A film by Mohammad Rasoulof. In Farsi with German subtitles.

[Credits] [Tickets & Termine] [Trailer]

A tar­get of Iran’s hard­li­ne con­ser­va­ti­ve govern­ment for his films’ cri­ti­cism of the sta­te, direc­tor Mohammad Rasoulof fled his home coun­try to avo­id an eight-year pri­son sen­tence, though he hadn’t finis­hed editing his latest film yet. His sea­ring dra­ma The Seed of the Sacred Fig won a Special Prize from the jury and three other awards on its pre­mie­re at the Cannes Film Festival. The film is every bit as urgent and grip­ping as its real-life back­story would por­tend: long­time govern­ment worker Iman (Missagh Zareh) has just recei­ved a major pro­mo­ti­on to the role of judge’s inves­ti­ga­tor, to the hop­eful delight of his wife Najmeh (Soheila Golestani); at the same moment, a series of stu­dent pro­tests against the govern­ment have explo­ded in the streets, sto­king the sym­pa­thies of their inde­pen­dent-min­ded daugh­ters Rezvan (Mahsa Rostami) and Sana (Setareh Maleki). The gro­wing wedge bet­ween pro­gres­si­ve child­ren and tra­di­tio­nal par­ents inten­si­fies through a series of unsett­ling events that put Iman’s future in jeo­par­dy. Both para­noia thril­ler and dome­stic dra­ma, The Seed of the Sacred Fig is abo­ve all an epic of anti-patri­ar­chal poli­ti­cal conviction.

Credits:

IR, DE, FR 2024, 168 Min., far­si OmU
Regie: Mohammad Rasoulof
Kamera: Pooyan Aghababaei
Schnitt: Andrew Bird
mit Missagh Zareh, Soheila Golestani, Mahsa Rostami, Setareh Maleki, Niousha Akhshi

Trailer:

nach oben

A film by Payal Kapadia. In Malayalam and Hindi with German subtitles.

[Credits] [Tickets & Termine] [Trailer]

In Mumbai, Nurse Prabha’s rou­ti­ne is trou­bled when she recei­ves an unex­pec­ted gift from her estran­ged hus­band. Her youn­ger room­ma­te, Anu, tri­es in vain to find a spot in the city to be inti­ma­te with her boy­fri­end. A trip to a beach town allows them to find a space for their desi­res to manifest.

Competition Cannes Filmfestival 2024: Grand Prix.

Credits:

IN, FR, NL, LU 2024, 114 Min., Malayalam, Hindi OmU
Regie: Payal Kapadia
Kamera: Rabadir Das
Schnitt: Clément Pinteaux
mit Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam, Hridhu Haroon 

Trailer:

nach oben

A film by Guan Hu. In Mandarin with German subtitles.

[Credits] [Tickets & Termine] [Trailer]

On the edge of the Gobi desert in Northwest China, Lang returns to his home­town after being released from jail. While working for the local dog pat­rol team to clear the town of stray dogs befo­re the Olympic Games, he strikes up an unli­kely con­nec­tion with a black dog. These two lonely souls now embark on a new jour­ney together.

Credits:

GOU ZHEN
CN 2024, 110 Min., Mandarin OmU
Regie: Guan Hu
Kamera: Gao Weizhe
mit Eddie Peng, Zhangke Jia, Jing Liang

Trailer:

nach oben

A film by Nora Fingscheidt. In English with German subtitles.

[Credits] [Tickets & Termine] [Trailer]

After an absence of more than ten years, Rona returns to her home on the remo­te Orkney Islands in Scotland. As she redis­co­vers the uni­que, wild land­scape in which she grew up, her child­hood memo­ries ming­le with tho­se from her more recent times as an addict. Her depar­tu­re for the city and sub­se­quent dis­so­lu­te years in London resul­ted in a pain­ful fall. But litt­le by litt­le, her encoun­ter with the enchan­ted, wind-bat­te­red coasts of the islands beco­mes a chan­ce for a new life.
Nora Fingscheidt’s adapt­a­ti­on of Amy Liptot’s auto­bio­gra­phi­cal best­sel­ler uses har­ro­wing flash­backs to depict Rona’s down­ward spi­ral in London and her time in a strict rehab pro­gram­me. However, the focus of the film is on her libe­ra­ti­on from per­so­nal demons through a con­nec­tion with the natu­re of her child­hood home.

Credits:

GB/DE 2024, 117 Min., engl. OmU
Regie: Nora Fingscheidt
Kamera: Yunus Roy Imer
Schnitt: Stephan Bechinger
mit Saoirse Ronan, Paapa Essiedu, Stephen Dillane, Saskia Reeves, Nabil Elouahabi, Izuka Hoyle, Lauren Lyle 

Trailer:

nach oben

A film by Jürgen Ellinghaus.

[Credits] [Tickets & Termine] [Trailer]

Following in the foot­s­teps of the Hamburg film direc­tor Hans Schomburgk who tra­vel­led through the German colo­ny of Togo from Lomé to the north with his com­pa­n­ion and actress Meg Gehrts in 1913, Jürgen Ellinghaus screens the foo­ta­ge shot then at its loca­ti­ons in modern-day Togo. Schomburgk’s affir­ma­ti­ve images show slave labour, humi­lia­ti­on and the arro­gan­ce of the colo­ni­al power. The mate­ri­al is con­tras­ted by Gehrts’ roman­ti­cis­ing dia­ry ent­ries and other colo­ni­al reports which often testi­fy to a hor­ri­fy­ing coldness.

The scree­nings of this mate­ri­al, which has never been shown in Togo befo­re, prompt the audi­en­ces to reflect on tra­di­ti­on, ste­reo­ty­pes, the “white gaze.” In the vil­la­ges, the colo­ni­al images con­ju­re up memo­ries of han­ded down sto­ries. In the metro­po­lis of Lomé, young film enthu­si­asts deplo­re that the­se images were kept from them until today and dis­cuss in which con­texts they should be scree­ned. But “Togoland Projections” not only shows how much the­se pain­ful docu­ments and texts are nee­ded in con­tem­po­ra­ry Togo, becau­se they are part of the country’s histo­ry. The film also demons­tra­tes that they are nee­ded in Germany so we can take respon­si­bi­li­ty for our sup­pres­sed histo­ry and face our own racism – past and pre­sent.
Christoph Terhechte

Credits:

DE 2023, 96 Min., div. OmU
Regie: Jürgen Ellinghaus
Kamera: Rémi Jennequin
Schnitt: Nina Khada 

Trailer:

nach oben

A film by Andreas Hartmann, Arata Mori. In Japanese with German subtitles.

[Credits] [Tickets & Termine] [Trailer]

Japanese night moving com­pa­nies spe­cia­li­se in the art of dis­ap­pearance and help tho­se who need or want to lea­ve their for­mer lives behind. On their night­ly mis­si­ons they dis­crete­ly and effi­ci­ent­ly orchest­ra­te people’s tran­si­ti­on to a new exis­tence. In the pro­cess, they often skirt the boun­da­ries of lega­li­ty due to the diver­se moti­va­tions behind the dis­ap­pearan­ces. Eva Weinmann

Credits:

DE/JP 2024, 86 Min., japan. OmU
Regie: Andreas Hartmann, Arata Mori
Kamera: Andreas Hartmann
Schnitt: Kai Eiermann (BFS)

Trailer:

nach oben

A film by Min Bahadur Bham. In Tibetian and Nepali with German and English subtitles

[Credits] [Tickets & Termine] [Trailer]

In the heart of the Nepalese Himalayas, the spi­ri­ted Pema embraces a poly­and­rous mar­ria­ge with Tashi and his two youn­ger brot­hers. They initi­al­ly lead a har­mo­nious life, but when Tashi fails to return from a tra­ding trip to Lhasa, the legi­ti­ma­cy of Pema’s unborn child is ques­tio­ned by her com­mu­ni­ty. Determined to pro­ve her love and puri­ty, she embarks on a quest to find Tashi. Accompanied by her brot­her-in-law, her now de fac­to spou­se Karma, she goes into the wil­der­ness. Karma is a monk. After initi­al­ly resis­ting giving up his monastic life, he gra­du­al­ly comes to app­re­cia­te the simp­le exis­tence of a secu­lar life. However, urgent duties call him back to the monas­tery and Pema is left alo­ne. As she navi­ga­tes the harsh Himalayan ter­rain, her quest tran­s­cends the search for her miss­ing hus­band. Pema beco­mes incre­asing­ly immer­sed in a spi­ri­tu­al search for mea­ning in which every step brings her clo­ser to self-dis­co­very and liberation.

Credits:

NP/FR/NO/HK/CN/TK/TW/US/QA 2024, 150 Min.,
Tibetisch, Nepali Originalfassung mit deut­schen und eng­li­schen Untertiteln
Regie: Min Bahadur Bham
Kamera: Aziz Zhambakiyev
Schnitt: Liao Ching Sung, Kiran Shrestha
mit: Thinley Lhamo, Sonam Topden, Tenzin Dalha, Karma Wangyal Gurung, Karma Shakya, Loten Namling, Tsering Lhamo Gurung, Janga Bahadur Lama 

Trailer:

nach oben

A film by Bruno Dumont. In French with German subtitles.

[Credits] [Tickets & Termine] [Trailer]

The Opal Coast, nor­t­hern France. In a quiet and pic­tures­que fishing vil­la­ge, some­thing final­ly hap­pens: a spe­cial baby is born. A child so uni­que and pecu­li­ar that it unleas­hes a secret war bet­ween extra­ter­restri­al forces of good and evil.

Ausgezeichnet mit dem Silbernen Bären — Preis der Jury auf der Berlinale 2024

Credits:

L’Empire
FR/ DE/ IT/ BE/ PT 2024, 110 Min. fran­zö­si­sche OmU
Regie: Bruno Dumont
Kamera: David Chambille
Schnitt: Desideria Rayner, Bruno Dumont
mit: Camille Cottin, Lyna Khoudri, Fabrice Luchini, Anamaria Vartolomei, Bernard Pruvost

Trailer:

nach oben

A film by Karim Aïnouz. In Portugese with German subtitles.

[Credits] [Tickets & Termine] [Trailer]

The neon-hued Motel Destino is a roadsi­de sex hotel under the bur­ning blue ski­es of the coast of Northern Brazil, run by the boo­rish Elias and his frus­tra­ted, beau­tiful wife Dayana. When 21 year-old Heraldo finds hims­elf at the motel, after mes­sing up a hit and going on the run from both the poli­ce and the gang he let down, Dayana finds hers­elf intrigued and lets him stay. As the two navi­ga­te a dance of power, desi­re and libe­ra­ti­on, a dan­ge­rous plan for free­dom emer­ges. In this tro­pi­cal noir, loyal­ties and desi­res intert­wi­ne, reve­al­ing that desti­ny has its own enig­ma­tic design.

Credits:

BR/DE/FR 2024, 115 Min., Portugiesisch OmU
Regie: Karim Aïnouz
Kamera: Hélène Louvart
Schnitt: Nelly Quettier
mit: Fábio Assunção, Nataly Rocha, Iago Xavier

Trailer:

nach oben

A film by Kazuhiro Soda. In Japanese with German subtitles.

[Credits] [Tickets & Termine] [Trailer]

Steep steps lead up to the Gokogu Shinto shri­ne in Ushimado. The local child­ren play on them and the older resi­dents attend to their upkeep, even plan­ting mint on eit­her side. Kazuhiro Soda pres­ents the­se steps as a site of tran­si­ti­on that also forms a key ele­ment of this tiny set-up. For this ele­va­ted shri­ne isn’t just some­whe­re to visit for spi­ri­tu­al pur­po­ses – Ushimado’s feline com­mu­ni­ty has also set up home here, an occa­sio­nal­ly dyna­mic coll­ec­ti­ve con­sis­ting of cats aban­do­ned by their owners and their sub­se­quent off­spring. They need to be cared for, even as their popu­la­ti­on must be kept in check. Kazuhiro Soda’s docu­men­ta­ries – many of them which have alre­a­dy scree­ned at the Forum – always fol­low his own set of rules and show the see­mingly inno­cuous, yet still weigh­ty requi­re­ments of co-exis­tence. Slowly, yet per­sis­t­ent­ly, The Cats of Gokogu Shrine expands his gaze; the focus on details, ever­y­day ten­der­nes­ses and disci­pli­ne gives this chro­nic­le of a year a dimen­si­on that is at once down-to-earth and uni­ver­sal. And the pre­sence of Kazuhiro Soda hims­elf, who has lived in Ushimado for seve­ral years, can also be expe­ri­en­ced first-hand in a res­trai­ned, honest manner.

Credits:

Gokogu no Neko
JP 2024, 119 Min., japa­ni­sche OmU
Regie, Kamera, Schnitt: Kazuhiro Soda 

Trailer:

Im Kino mit deut­schen Untertiteln

nach oben