Category: bald

Gavagai
A film by Ulrich Köhler. Starts April 30th at the fsk . In French, English, German and Wolof with German subtitles.

[Credits] [Tickets & Termine] [Trailer]

Actors Maja and Nourou have an affair while shooting a modern adaptation of Medea in Senegal, but things take a dark turn after the film’s premiere. An unflinchingly complex look at racial tensions, filmmaking and power dynamics.

In Dakar, during the making of a modernist take on the Medea myth, fellow actors Maja and Nourou start an affair to ease the pressures on set and the piercing feelings of loneliness. Once the shoot is over, they meet again only for the premiere in Berlin – which turns into a disaster when the press questions the film projecting a European narrative onto a former colony.

The word ‘gavagai’ originates from a thought experiment by philosopher and logician W.V. Quine, who suggested that translation is inextricably tied to context – without it, everything can theoretically mean everything. Berlin School outlier Ulrich Köhler (In My Room, IFFR 2019) turns this idea into an essay on our modern society in which appearance is everything and all is ruled by the laws of clickbait. Köhler refuses to give into the laziness, frustration and anger that is so prevalent in today’s media and art discourse. One of the most politically pertinent films of the year.

– IFFR
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DE/FR 2025, 89 Min., Französisch, Englisch, Deutsch. Wolof OmU
Regie: Ulrich Köhler
Kamera: Patrick Orth
Schnitt: Lorna Hoefler Steffen
mit: Jean-Christophe Folly, Maren Eggert, Nathalie Richard, Anna Diakhere Thiandoum
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Trailer:
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GAVAGAI by Ulrich Köhler – Trailer

Im Kino mit deutschen Untertiteln
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sr
A film by Lea Hartlaub. Starts March 18th at the fsk. On March 23rd with QnA.

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Regisseurin Lea Hartlaub unternimmt in ihrem filmischen Essay anhand eines Objekts – der Giraffe – eine Welterzählung über Kontinente und Jahrhunderte hinweg.
Ein Filmexperiment, das international viel Beachtung gefunden hat und in Form und Inhalt seinesgleichen sucht.

In einer puristischen Filmsprache und bühnenhaften Tableaus erzählt SR vom Menschen und von durch ihn geschaffene Wirklichkeiten. 16 fragmentarische Episoden führen in 91 Einstellungen an 30 Handlungsorte – unter anderem auf eine Insel im Westpazifik, in einen Lesesaal in New York, zu einer Keramikfabrik bei Peking, auf eine Landebahn im Niger.
Dabei trifft der Film auf Vermutungen, Behauptungen und die Relativität von Wissen, auf koloniale Relikte, hegemoniale Strukturen, auf Aneignungen und den Umgang mit Exotik. Ein wiederkehrendes Motiv, die Giraffe, erscheint mal direkt, mal am Rande. Eine Vielschichtigkeit entsteht, in der sich weit mehr andeutet, als das, was auf den ersten Blick sichtbar wird.
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DE 2024, 103 Min., Deutsch, Swahili, Englisch, Hebräisch, Chinesisch, Persisch, Tamaschek OmU
Regie, Kamera, Schnitt: Lea Hartlaub
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sr – Offizieller Trailer
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Das Glück der Tüchtigen
A film by Franz Müller. Starts April 16th at the fsk. In German with English subtitles.

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Mira is happy. She has just started a job as manager of a supermarket on the outskirts of town. She has a loving relationship with her husband Tarik and their two daughters. But a serious breach of trust suddenly calls her whole life into question. Franz Müller takes an empathetic look at a world largely unexplored by German cinema: the suburbs with their all-too-human problems. But on the horizon a utopia appears, a solidarity-based coexistence outside the pressure cooker of late capitalist logic.
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DE 2025, 104 Min., deutsche OmeU
Regie: Franz Müller
Kamera: Julia Daschner
Schnitt: Stefan Stabenow
mit: Katharina Derr, Alex Brendemühl, Leonidas Emre Pakkan, Lana Cooper
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DAS GLÜCK DER TÜCHTIGEN – Offizieller Trailer
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Der Tod wird kommen
A film by Christoph Hochhäusler. In French with German subtitles.

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Tez kills for money. Charles Mahr, a legendary gangster, hires her to avenge the murder of one of his couriers. Once in Brussels, she gets caught up in the thicket of an intrigue in which she herself becomes the prey. Tez has to decide whose instrument she wants to be.
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DE/BE/LU 2024, 101 Min., französiche OmU
Regie: Christoph Hochhäusler
Kamera: Reinhold Vorschneider
Schnitt: Stefan Stabenow
mit: Sophie Verbeeck, Louis-Do De Lencquesaing, Marc Limpach, Mourade Zeguendi, Nassim Rachi
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Der Tod wird kommen / La mort viendra [Offizieller Trailer FRANZÖSISCH HD] – Ab 12. März im Kino
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filmPOLSKA reloaded – This Is Not My Film

Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.

To nie mój film / It’s Not My Film
am 25.3. 18:00 im fsk

[Tickets]

PL 2024
R/B/K: Maria Zbąska
99 min, OmdU
S: Andrzej Kowalski
M: Anja Garbarek
D: Zofia Chabiera, Marcin Sztabiński u. a.

Die impulsive Wanda ist nur noch genervt. Sie und ihr Freund Janek haben sich auseinandergelebt, ihre Beziehung steckt fest. Das Geld ist chronisch knapp, ständig gibt es Streit, der freudlose Alltag ist nur noch die Wiederholung des ewig Gleichen und Janeks routinierter Pragmatismus bringt sie zur Weißglut. Haben sie überhaupt noch eine gemeinsame Zukunft?

Für Wanda steht fest: Sie müssen durch gemeinsame Grenzerfahrungen wieder zueinander finden – oder für immer auseinandergehen. Also brechen sie auf, mitten im Winter, einmal 400 km den polnischen Ostseestrand entlang von West nach Ost. Es gilt die eiserne Regel: Sie dürfen den Strand nicht verlassen. Wird sie gebrochen, ist das Projekt beendet – das gilt für die Wanderung, aber auch für ihre Beziehung. Wind, Kälte und Erschöpfung setzen ihnen ebenso zu wie die Notwendigkeit, trotz unterschiedlicher Charaktere immer wieder einen kleinsten gemeinsamen Nenner zu finden.

Maria Zbąska inszeniert in ihrem Debüt eine Reise, die keinen Anfang und kein Ende zu haben scheint – ein bittersüß-poetisches Psycho-Kammerspiel und ein Road-Movie ohne Straßen. [Rainer Mende]

Maria Zbąska (geb. 1975) absolvierte ein Kamera-Studium an der Filmhochschule Łódź und veröffentlichte ab 2001 sieben Kurzfilme, bevor sie 2024 mit „Das ist nicht mein Film“ ihren ersten Langfilm drehte. Für alle ihre Filme stand sie auch hinter der Kamera.
Wohin der Wind uns trägt
A film by Amel Guellaty. Starts April 16th at the fsk. In Arabic and French with German subtitles.

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Alyssa, a rebellious 19-year-old girl, and her friend Mehdi, an introverted 23-year-old man, use their imagination to escape their unpromising reality. When they discover a contest in the south of Tunisia that may allow them to flee, they undertake a road trip regardless of the obstacles in their way.

Director Amel Guellaty offers us a window into a side of Tunisia we have rarely seen, imbuing the world of her charming debut feature with surreal visual flourishes that transform and brighten everyday moments. Eya Bellagha and Slim Baccar have undeniable chemistry as Alyssa and Mehdi, organically capturing the crossfire banter of their friendship as well as their shared struggle to break free from the responsibilities and restrictions that hold them back from pursuing their dreams. Their unexpectedly chaotic journey to Djerba is underscored by a thoughtful comedic touch and a hypnotic indie soundtrack from the region.

With creativity, warmth, and spirit, Where the Wind Comes From honors Tunisian youth while recognizing the uncertain road that lies ahead of them.
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TN/FR 2025, 99 Min., Arabisch-französische OmU
Regie: Amel Guellaty
Kamera: Frida Marzouk
Schnitt: Amel Guellaty, Ghalya Lacroix, Malek Kammoun
mit: Eya Bellagha, Slim Baccar, Maya Blouza, Firas Khoury
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Trailer „Wohin der Wind uns trägt”
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A Missing Part
A film by Guillaume Senez. Starts April 2nd at the fsk. In French with German subtitles.

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A father’s desperate quest to reunite with his daughter becomes the source of rising tension and heart-rending poignancy in this sensitively rendered third feature by Belgian filmmaker Guillaume Senez.
Reuniting with director Guillaume Senez after their very successful collaboration on 2018’s Our Struggles, Romain Duris gives a wonderfully lived-in performance as Jay, a French man now living in Tokyo and making a living as a driver for a private car service. Through Jay’s encounters with Jessica (Judith Chemla), another French expat, and his conversations with others sympathetic to his plight, Senez’s film gradually reveals the circumstances that have kept him in the country. Like others who share his plight, Jay is subject to a legal system that provides few rights to foreign parents in custody conflicts. As a result of Japan’s “clean break” approach to family law, a parent may be unable to even contact their child after a divorce. After nine painful years, Jay is on the verge of giving up on the possibility he might ever see his daughter Lily again. But then one morning, a new passenger in his car takes his story in another direction.By grounding the narrative in small details and never resorting to easy sentimentality, even in its most charged moments, Senez imbues his film with great authenticity and humanity. Likewise, the director’s emphasis on the quotidian helps it avoid exoticizing Jay’s experience or perspective as an outsider in Japan. Through these quiet, careful methods, Senez has crafted an unusually thoughtful family story that contains a rare wealth of feeling. JASON ANDERSON | TIFF
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Une part manquante
FR/BE 2024, 98 Min., franz. OmU
Regie: Guillaume Senez
Kamera: Elin Kirschfink
Schnitt: Julie Brenta
mit: Romain Duris, Judith Chemla, Mei Cirne-Masuki, Tsuyu
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Alpha
A film by Julia Ducournau. Starts April 2nd at the fsk. In French with German subtitles.

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Alpha, a troubled 13-year-old lives with her single mom. Their world collapses the day she returns from school with a tattoo on her arm.
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FR/BE 2025, 128 Min., französiche OmU
Regie: Julia Ducournau
Kamera: Ruben Impens
Schnitt: Jean-Christophe Bouzy
mit: Tahar Rahim, Golshifteh Faharani, Mélissa Boros, Finnegan Oldfield, Emma Mackey
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On the border
A film by Igor Hauzenberger & Gabriela Schild. Starts March 19th at the fsk.

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The desert city of Agadez in Niger has been a hub of trade routes since time immemorial. The local Tuareg population always earned a good living by transporting goods and people across the Sahara. But Agadez is also a place where migrants pass through on their way to Europe.

Niger has been in direct talks with the European Union about this since 2012. The result is a law that criminalizes illegal migration and has made Agadez a High Risk Area, with catastrophic consequences for the local economy. The ban on transport led to unemployment, higher crime and a drug epidemic.

In On the Border, three residents of Agadez talk about the decline of their city. Salesman Ahmed Dizzi looks back with nostalgia to a time when large numbers of European tourists used to visit the historic city and spend a lot of money. Radio reporter Tilla Amadou questions the effectiveness of European training programs for border guards. And former mayor Rhissa Feltou argues that the new border controls are a threat to the traditional nomadic existence of the Tuareg.
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AT/DE/CH 2024, 103 Min., Tamascheq, Hausa, Fulah, Französisch, Deutsch. OmU
Regie: Gerald Igor Hauzenberger & Gabriela Schild
Kamera: Thomas Eirich-Schneider, Gerald Igor Hauzenberger, Hajo Schomerus, Joerg Burger
Schnitt: Nela Märki, Stefan Fauland
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ON THE BORDER // Trailer // Kinostart mit Kinotour am 19.03.26
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Nouvelle Vague
A film by Richard Linklater. Starts March 3rd at the fsk. In French with German subtitles.

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This is the story of Godard making “Breathless”, told in the style and spirit in which Godard made “Breathless”.
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FR 2025, 105 Min., franz. OmU
Regie: Richard Linklater
Kamera: David Chambille
Schnitt: Catherine Schwartz
mit: Guillaume Marbeck, Zoey Deutch, Aubry Dullin, Adrien Rouyard, Antoine Besson, Jodie Ruth Forest
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