Streaming-Programme for English-speaking audiences

The Max Ophüls Film Festival is considered the most important newcomer film festival in the German-speaking world, giving voice to and presenting the works of new talents from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. We are happy to offer a wide selection of competition films as well as other films from the official programme online with English subtitles.

The competition films can be watched online from the time their cinema premiere is scheduled until Sunday, February 4, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. – as long as the contingent lasts. All other films will be available right from the start of the festival (January 22, 2023, 7:30 p.m.) until February 2. Please note that the streaming offer is limited in terms of ticket numbers and territory (geo-blocking on Germany).
You can purchase your streaming tickets and watch the films right here on the festival website by following these steps:

Go to our streaming platform: https://ffmop.de/programm/streaming
You can choose between different options:
- Buy your single tickets for the different long film programmes on each site
- Feature Film Competition: Click on “Streaming-Tickets Wettbewerb Spielfilm”Documentary Film Competition: Click on “Streaming-Tickets Wettbewerb Dokumentarfilm”
- Buy the “Goldener Fan-Pass” (Golden Fan Ticket) that gives you access to all films
- Buy the “Kurz- und Mittellanger Film-Pass” (Short- and Mid-length-Film Ticket) that gives you access to all Short and Mid-Length-Films
Choose the film or ticket by clicking on the button “Jetzt für 10.00 EUR ausleihen”
Enter a valid e-mail address which your ticket-ID will be sent to
Choose your payment method (credit card, SEPA or PayPal)
If the payment was successful, you have two options:
- to watch the film right away (“Jetzt anschauen”)
- to watch it later (“Später ansehen”)
After starting the player, the film will be available for 48 hours
If you want to watch the film later, you will have to re-enter the film detail site of the film or film programme you bought the ticket for and click on “Ich habe den Film bereits ausgeliehen”
Enter your ticket-ID which was sent to you by e-mail after you bought the ticket (check your spam folder, if it’s not in your inbox) and you can start the film
Don’t forget to select the English subtitles in the player by hitting the cc button

The premiere times of the competition films are included in our timetable.
For any further queries, don’t hesitate to contact our team (Julia von Knebel: programm-kurz@ffmop.de).
We wish you great fun discovering emerging talents and their cinematic visions!
Please consider the age ratings of the individual films. Films without a mentioned age rating have not been officially examined yet and are thus recommended for audiences aged 18 and older.

Feature Film Competition

Dschoint Ventschr

BAGGER DRAMA

A family finds it difficult to talk about feelings, love or intimacy. The family business demands their full attention: renting, selling and repairing excavators. Everyone has to pitch in. When the daughter has a fatal accident, the family stops functioning. The son doesn’t feel understood and would rather go to the USA than take over the company. The father wants to forget and falls in love with the new choir director. And the mother suddenly finds herself alone with the dog in the family home. Grief leads to speechlessness. Actions replace conversations. Perplexity leads to misunderstandings. Misunderstandings lead to anger. And anger leads to hatred. Why do we hurt each other so much, even though we love each other so much? A new Heimatfilm with people searching and machines dancing.

Streaming available from: Wednesday, 9:00 pm

SEW TORN

A seamstress gets tangled in her own thread after stealing a briefcase from a drug deal gone bad. In an escalating game of cat and mouse, her different choices lead to drastically different outcomes along the way.

Streaming available from: Wednesday, 6:30 pm

Documentary Film Competition

CLOUD FACTORY (WOLKEN ÜBER LÜTZERATH)

For Blinker, Ronni and Green MP Kathrin Henneberger, the 1.5 degree limit runs through Lützerath. They are fighting in different ways to preserve the village in the Rhenish lignite mining region. While Blinker focuses on barricades and Ronni concentrates on the media strategy of the occupation, Henneberger tries to influence her party leadership. But they consider Lützerath to be the “wrong symbol”. After the eviction, what remains are images of destruction, memories and wounds that are only slowly healing.

Streaming available from: Wednesday, 9:30 pm

DEATH IS AN ASSHOLE (DER TOD IST EIN ARSCHLOCH)

Dying and saying goodbye are part of life. Why do we still find it so difficult to talk about it? Berlin mortician Eric Wrede and his team are trying to get death out of the taboo zone - with less fear of contact, more honesty and more empathy. For them, the deceased are not just a job, and mourners are not just customers. Every case is different and individual - and when a terminally ill friend asks them to accompany her, the funeral professionals reach their personal limits.

Streaming available from: Tuesday, 8:45 pm

GOD‘S OTHER PLAN

What happens when the adult son of a Mormon family realizes that the meticulously
planned life dictated by his religion is wrong for him? Riley is gay; he suspected this earlier
and prayed it would disappear. By now, he is divorced from his wife, married to a man, and
no longer a Mormon. He now lives in a blended family with his biological daughter and an
adopted son. How does his Mormon family, especially his ex-wife, deal with this profound
change?

Streaming available from: Tuesday, 6:00 pm

NIGHT OF THE COYOTES

In El Alberto, Mexico, the border with the USA can be felt everywhere. It separates families, cuts up lives and uproots people. Those who have remained there have found an unusual response to this: They re-enact the illegal border crossing for tourists at night, slipping into the roles of the US border police, narcos and smugglers. A story of self-empowerment - or a village stuck in the loop of its traumatic experiences?

Streaming available from: Tuesday, 6:30 pm

NOCH LANGE KEINE LIPIZZANER

Although she was born and raised in Austria, director Olga Kosanović is not allowed to be Austrian. Her first attempt at naturalization failed. One social media comment scornfully stated: “If a cat throws kittens at the riding school, that doesn't make them Lipizzaners”. What concept of identity underlies legislation that divides society into “us” and “the others”? A film about belonging - and a second attempt.

Streaming available from: Wednesday, 9:15 pm

OUT OF SIGHT (BÜRGLKOPF)

At an altitude of 1,300 meters, the Bürglkopf Return Center is situated on top of the mountain of the same name in Tyrol. Asylum seekers are housed there, with the aim of pressuring them to leave Austria—through "return counseling" but primarily through the isolation itself. The idyllic Alpine landscape becomes the setting for a bizarre encounter of refugees, locals, and tourists. Nearby, the mountains of Kitzbühel serve as a winter sports destination, with state-of-the-art gondolas ferrying vacationers from around the globe to the mountaintops. Meanwhile, the residents of Bürglkopf face a three-hour hike on foot to descend from the camp to the valley. The film offers a glimpse into Europe's isolationist policies, embodied in return centers and deportation camps.

Streaming available from: Wednesday, 4:15 pm

RATIONALLY ENRAGED (MENSCH, ÄRGERE DICH!)

Arguments fizzle out, emotions harden the fronts: Our society has a communication problem. The film follows three activists with very different concerns and sometimes polarizing approaches. Yannick fights for climate policy, Nina against poverty and Martin against one-sided media coverage. How can we manage to listen to each other again despite our opposing opinions and find a fair way of working together?

Streaming available from: Wednesday, 9:30 pm

THE LIFE OF SEAN DELEAR

He was a pioneer in being black and gay in the art and music world: Sean DeLear. In the 1990s, he established himself as a drag icon in the Los Angeles punk scene and became the frontman of the legendary post-punk band Glue. He later moved to Austria and joined the Gelitin collective. An eccentric and electrifying figure who is brought back to life in a collage of archive material, interviews and diary excerpts.

Streaming available from: Thursday, 7:00 pm

TO CLOSE YOUR EYES AND SEE FIRE

Beirut lies in ruins. After the explosion in the city's port, collective trauma rises to the surface. How can life succeed after such a tragedy? The film carefully observes the following three years and zooms in on the lives of Aya - a Syrian refugee girl, Selim - an activist and painter, the Aladdin family - mourning a tragic loss, Yasmin - picking up calls at a suicide prevention hotline, and Andrea - who still believes in the city's spark for change. Meanwhile, a smoldering fire keeps on lingering in the port's silos like a cautionary tale. Is it time to leave?

Streaming available from: Thursday, 9:30 pm

YUMI - THE WHOLE WORLD

The sea on Solomon, Vishal and Romabeth's home islands in the South Pacific is advancing further and further. The three law students observe with great concern how the livelihoods there are dwindling dramatically. They are launching a campaign for climate justice to hold the Global North to account before the International Court of Justice. They promote their cause at conferences, fighting with diplomacy and endless amounts of positive energy. They have to convince at least half of the UN members. Will the world listen to them?

Streaming available from: Thursday, 4:00 pm

Mid-Length Film Competition

SKIN ON SKIN

An industrial slaughterhouse somewhere in Germany. Jakob works as a security guard, the Bosnian labourer Boris in the slaughterhouse. In the midst of the violence and the cold, a silent bond develops between them and an unspoken longing for freedom. When Jakob helps to retrieve Boris's confiscated passport, they find themselves caught up in a maelstrom of power and powerlessness that forces them to make far-reaching decisions.

Streaming available from: Wednesday, 3:30 pm

GARNELIUS

Director: Julia Ketelhut | Germany 2025 | 49 min. | world premiere | no age rating

2007: Karl (17) lives with his single father Werner (62) in a cramped flat in an East Berlin apartment block. His little brother David (8) is in a sheltered housing group. Karl feels overwhelmed in his contact with him, because David looks to Karl for what Werner can no longer provide as a father. What "Ossi" Werner has achieved and what Karl plans to
achieve is discussed heatedly by the guests on Werner's birthday. Shortly afterwards, something unexpected happens: Karl lays an egg. He tries with all his might to keep the hatching creature alive.

Streaming available from: Tuesday, 9:15 pm

ERBSCHAFT

2032: Putin is dead. Russia has lost the war against Ukraine. Alex, the son of Russian political refugees, returns to the land of collective amnesia with his German friend because he has inherited his deceased grandmother's apartment. But the neighbors are after the apartment. While the unsuspecting Alex waits for the police, their recent past - our present - erupts in everyday conflicts. Only the neighbor's daughter remembers her childhood friend.

Streaming available from: Tuesday, 9:15 pm

INKUBUS

Director: Reza Sam Mosadegh | Germany 2025 | 29 min. | world premiere

Germany in the 17th century: Marrying into a peasant family, Hildegard finds herself caught in a web of patriarchal violence and ecclesiastical oppression. When her stepdaughter Agnes draws the attention of the Inquisition to the family, a race against time begins: in a world that wants to silence women, Hildegard must summon up the courage to fight - for Agnes and ultimately for herself.

Streaming available from: Tuesday, 6:00 pm

SHORT NOTICE

Within 12 hours, Janna and Lucy will say hello and goodbye at Leipzig's train station. They have one night to explore the city and get to know each other a bit more, before Lucy goes back to France.

Streaming available from: Tuesday, 3:00 pm

SOMEWHERE IN TEXAS (A STAR TO BE) / MEERESRAUSCH (ODER WIE EIN STERN ZU SEIN)

The god-like pop star Hansy Vordermeer casts a spell over his fans - especially the passionate drinker Ferdi. To get even closer to his great idol, who propagates a healthy and “eternal” life, Ferdi decides to radically change his lifestyle. But his transformation from a binge-drinking chain smoker to a vitamin junkie is met with great incomprehension by his family.

Streaming available from: Tuesday, 3:00 pm

Short Film Competition

QUICKSAND (TREIBSAND)

The golden ticket out of the village: MARCO (18) has made it to the top football club and can finally leave the small town of Lindorf behind to play with the big stars. Between wild "Schützenfest"-fair celebrations and emerging fears, he has to decide whether he wants to remain the big fish in the little pond or whether he dares to flee into the unknown. But a way out opens up - but not without sacrifice.

Streaming available from: Tuesday, 9:00 pm

DOG

Director: Marieke de Zwaan | Germany 2025 | 14 min. | world premiere | no age rating

During a night shift, a taxi driver watches his dog through a pet camera installed at home. When his wife appears on the screen, he uses the dog as an excuse to contact her.

Streaming available from: Tuesday, 9:00 pm

ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS

The film is based on a true story. Bohdan and his son Ivan, who run a small hospital on the front line, are put to the test when a unit of Russian soldiers approaches their building. They have to make difficult decisions to protect their patients and their own lives.

Streaming available from: Tuesday, 9:00 pm

GOLD RUSH

Colorado, 1860: Three women, a mule and a map drawn by an illiterate to get to the gold sometimes found on the high mountains. The hardships of their endeavor first bring a lonely foreign widow closer together with the dubious German emigrants Olga and Dora. But the more time they spend in the harsh wilderness, the more manners deteriorate and the last bit of humanity gives way to ruthless greed. A feminist western based on the ballad "The Gold Diggers" by Emanuel Geibel.

Streaming available from: Tuesday, 9:00 pm

LA PASSERELLA DI AMELIE

Amelie receives a visit from a group of friends in her lakeside bungalow. The city dwellers' summer country getaway quickly leads to social tensions. The locals feel increasingly marginalized and their identity violated. When the visitors try to use the private footbridge to the lake, the conflict escalates.

Streaming available from: Tuesday, 9:00 pm

DRIFTEN

Director: Dean Fischer | Germany 2025 | 19 min. | world premiere | no age rating

After a failed life plan in Berlin, Thilo has returned to his hometown. His first day as a delivery driver at his father's beverage business turns into an unexpected road trip through his own past. The journey confronts him with his lack of direction and deep desire for identity and belonging.

Streaming available from: Tuesday, 5:30 pm

UNCANNY HOME

A story about two friends sharing the same body in virtual reality as they return to their home country, reliving good and bad memories and reopening old wounds.

Streaming available from: Tuesday, 5:30 pm

POCKET MONEY (TASCHENGELD)

Director: Matteo Sanders | Austria 2025 | 16 min. | world premiere | no age rating

When a bus driver discovers a bag containing 32,000 euros in his bus, an inner conflict begins that leads him into absurd situations and to the brink of despair.

Streaming available from: Tuesday, 5:30 pm

AT HOME I FEEL LIKE LEAVING

Director: Simon Maria Kubiena | Germany, Austria 2025 | 20 min. | world premiere | no age rating

A young woman returns to her home village after her childish father had gone missing in the surrounding woods. While the village prepares for the annual midsummer bonfire, she is torn between feeling responsible for her father and experiencing a deep longing for the closeness and ease with a woman she grew up with. Between the tension of her former home and the cheerful atmosphere of the village festivities, the young woman struggles to find her own place.

Streaming available from: Wednesday, 3:45 pm

MUTTERSEELENALLEIN

Sunny's mother is dead. Alone, the young woman wanders the corridors of the palliative care ward at night, waiting for the death certificate. Next to buzzing vending machines and empty benches, she meets Carla. Together they wait until the next morning.

Streaming available from: Wednesday, 3:45 pm

KIDS OF TOMORROW (WUNSCHKINDER)

Sticky water ice, a hot summer's day and four minutes that could change everything. Best friends Camilla and Rosa are always there for each other - even during the pregnancy test Camilla is forced to take in the middle of nowhere. But while Camilla hopes that the test will only show one line, Rosa wonders what circumstances could change her friend's mind.

Streaming available from: Wednesday, 3:45 pm

NINE DAYS IN AUGUST (NEUN TAGE IM AUGUST)

From the outside, 18-year-old Lea seems to be doing well. She's finished school, sees her friends and exercises a lot. But Lea is pregnant. And while the seemingly carefree, endless summer days pass between swimming, partying and sunrises, the young woman has to navigate the bureaucracy of an abortion.

Streaming available from: Wednesday, 12:30 pm

ICEBERGS

Director: Carlos Pereira | Germany 2024 | 20 min. | German premiere | no age rating

Theo is 62 years old and lives lonely and alone in a numb world. He spends his time in the hamam, where he quietly enjoys being touched, or in the old movie theater, where he watches people in the dark. One night, on a deserted street, Theo is confronted with his own fragility. In search of closeness and warmth, he drives to the countryside to see Ida.

Streaming available from: Wednesday, 12:30 pm

1:10

An elementary school sports day gets out of hand. A harmless argument between two children ends in death threats between the two fathers. The collective overload shakes an entire society and unfolds into a microcosm of chaos. Cause and effect of violence echo in a fragile social construct. A distant view of the everyday.

Streaming available from: Wednesday, 12:30 pm

GOD IS GREY

Director: Jennifer Drake | Germany 2024 | 24 min. | English | no age rating

Having been raised in a Christian household, Chris faces the challenge of finding his place in the world, particularly due to his two mothers who chose to keep their relationship hidden. When one of his mothers, Paddy, passes away, Chris returns home to a familiar yet unchanged environment. In a heartfelt effort to honor Paddy's memory, Chris impulsively makes a decision that jeopardizes his relationship with his remaining family, his other mother, Mami Tess.

Streaming available from: Tuesday, 3:00 pm

SILENT MODE

A flood buzzes through Nara's boyfriend's phone and fills the space between them with dissonance. A fishing trip together reveals that even in silence their bond is gone. After witnessing an act of primal violence, Nara fills her personal solitude with excess and withdrawal.

Streaming available from: Tuesday, 3:00 pm

MASCHA

Masha has no fixed abode and lives in her car. When she loses the car one day, she has to look for a safe place to spend the night in the city.

Streaming available from: Tuesday, 3:00 pm

KABINE

Director: Paul Mertins | Germany 2025 | 25 min. | world premiere | no age rating

Fritz is one of the most talented youth footballers at his well-known local club. Anyone who plays their way into the limelight here is sure to end up on the lists of numerous Bundesliga scouts - including Fritz. But there is no real joy. The homophobia and constant sexism in the soccer cosmos have been getting to him for a long time. And while the air in the dressing room becomes increasingly stuffy with testosterone, Fritz is ready to give up everything just before reaching his goal.

Streaming available from: Tuesday, 3:00 pm

WATCHLIST

Pius Neumaier Michael Kalb Filmproduktion

TODAY IS TOMORROW‘S YESTERDAY (HEUTE IST DAS GESTERN VON MORGEN)

80 years after the liberation of the concentration camps, the question of remembering the Nazi terror is more pressing than ever before. This is because we are experiencing an epochal change in Germany: the last contemporary witnesses of the Nazi era are dying - while the work of remembrance is gaining in importance, also due to increasing attacks from the right. An insight into the inner circles of the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial and their daily fight against forgetting.

Streaming available from: Monday, 7:30 pm

Jana Madzigon

PIGGY BANK (SPARSCHWEIN)

Director: Christoph Schwarz | Austria 2024 | 97 min. | German with English subtitles | no age rating

Filmmaker Christoph Schwarz is broke. Fortunately, he gets an offer from national television. But does Schwarz really want to document his self-experiment as an climate activist? Wouldn’t it be better to reorient the longterm experiment into a critique of capitalism and secretly buy the desired weekend house with the film budget? A self-mocking film about double standards, which playfully and humorously shows that the problems you clear away, are often smaller than the new ones that you thereby create.

Streaming available from: Monday, 7:30 pm

The Lonely Musketeer

THE LONELY MUSKETEER

Director: Nicolai Schumann | UK /Germany 2024 | 97min. | English | no age rating

The filthy rich hedge fund manager Rupert wakes up in a windowless, doorless room with no memory of how he got there. Only his cell phone is with him. At first, Rupert suspects a prank. But when the only person who knows where he might be is murdered, he slowly discovers the horror he has fallen into.

Streaming available from: Monday, 7:30 pm

DISKURZE

©Pedroza / Sorgo Fanny Leonie

TAKO TSUBO

Director: Eva Pedroza, Fanny Sorgo | Germany, Austria 2024 | 6 min. | German with English subtitles | no age rating

Mr. Ham decides to have his heart removed in order to be relieved of his complicated feelings. The doctor assures him that this is no longer a problem at all in this day and age. However, Ham keeps his heart for a while after the removal in order to perhaps understand it better after all. Tako Tsubo* is an animated, surrealistic reflection on dealing with feelings in a meritocracy.

Streaming available from: Tuesday, 7:30 pm

A. Sanchez Gavier

NUESTRA SOMBRA

Director: Agustina Sánchez Gavier | Germany 2024 | 19 min. | Spanish with English subtitles | age rating: 0

A solar eclipse has plunged the province of Misiones in north-eastern Argentina into darkness. The people who live there are threatened by exploitation and deforestation. But the skies hold bad omens. Where nature is despised, people disappear, trees fall and the sun is devoured. And so the resident Maria reflects on the hidden forces that shape the world.

Streaming available from: Monday, 7:30 pm

Max Hilsamer

SHOWHOUSE (SCHAUHAUS)

Director: Max Hilsamer, Anna Lauenstein| Germany 2023 | 30 min. | German with English subtitles | no age rating

A look back at the colonial history of the Botanic Garden in Berlin-Dahlem is combined with images of contemporary visions of the future: While the colonial plant collections of the late 19th century tell of the categorisation and domination of the 'other', in times of climate change the idea of gardens expanding into space allays fears of the limits of late capitalist civilisation and impending catastrophe.

Streaming available from: Monday, 7:30 pm

Tilman Bensiek

GEZIELT MITTELALTERLICHE ÜBERLEGUNGEN

Director: Finn Ole Weigt, Paula Milena Weise | Germany 2024 | 25 min. | no age rating

After Mrs. Schröder yells at her student Benny on a school trip, Benny stops going to class. Instead, she lives for the day. When she hears a rumor about an escaped bear, she decides to get to the bottom of it. Between a rendezvous with Benny's father and a jumping poodle, Ms. Schröder wanders through the empty town. And before she knows it, she finds herself playing cat and mouse with the stray bear.

Streaming available from: Monday, 7:30 pm

ZHdK

REVIER

Director: Felix Scherrer | Switzerland 2024 | 20 min. | Swiss German with English subtitles | no age rating

A summer stroll through Zurich ends in a police control. Prison ruins become parks, old buildings give way to new ones. On the first of May, rubber bullets are fired and one person goes blind.

Streaming available from: Tuesday, 6:30 pm

DFFB

AS IF MOTHER CRIED THAT NIGHT

Director: Hoda Taheri | Germany 2023 | 19 min. | German, Farsi with English subtitles | age rating: 12

An Iranian couple clings to parenthood as a possible means to stay in Germany, unraveling a web of uncertainty and sacrifice in their desperate quest for asylum.

Streaming available from: Monday, 7:30 pm

Miranda Siegel

IGNORE YOUR TRUE FEELINGS AT YOUR OWN PERIL (GEFÜHLE AUSBLENDEN AUF EIGENE GEFAHR)

Director: Miranda Siegel | Germany 2024 | Documentary | 16 min. | no age rating

Repressed emotions will find a way to get out—through the esophagus if necessary. In this video diary, director Miranda Siegel documents her struggle to keep her body under control during a bipolar episode.

Streaming available from: Monday, 7:30 pm

Marie Zrenner

VANILLA SKY HABIBI

Director: Marie Zrenner | Germany 2024 | 9 min. | no age rating

The power that the Berlin club Türkiyemspor brings to the pitch is not only created by the coach during the intensive preparation for the game, but also by the young women strengthening and supporting each other.

Streaming available from: Monday, 7:30 pm

SaarLorLux

Ghazal Aldakr

KAYAN

A silent conversation between two souls: The filmmaker speaks to a family member who does not answer. In a space of silence and emptiness, thoughts arise about existence and the fragility of existence.

Streaming available from: Wednesday, 8:30 pm

Amandine Klee

KANNERSPILL

When a right-wing party wins the elections in Luxembourg, the lives of three single mothers are fundamentally changed. After all social benefits are cut and one of them even loses her apartment, the three see no other way out than to rob a bank. And where better to rehearse a robbery than at the children's adventure playground around the corner?

Streaming available from: Thursday, 8:30 pm

Amor Schumacher und Sonja Ortiz

MUTANTiN

An emotional yet witty portrait about breast cancer risk and wanting to have children, this film not only sheds light on an oft-simplified disease but also tells the story of a close friendship.

Streaming available from: Thursday, 8:30 pm

MOP-Series

Schwarze Früchte

BLACK FRUIT (SCHWARZE FRÜCHTE)

Director: Elisha Smith-Leverock, David Uzochukwu| Germany 2024 | 99 min. | German with English subtitles | no age rating

A sharp and sensitive insight into the complex lives of Lalo (Lamin Leroy Gibba) and Karla (Melodie Simina), two black and queer best friends in Hamburg, as they try to find out who they really want to be.

Streaming available from: Monday, 7:30 pm

Children and youth section

©StephanBusk

MELS BLOCK

Director: Mark Sternkiker | Germany 2024 | 85 min. | age rating: 12

Today, Mel is on the winning side of life, but that wasn't always the case. The memory of her youth disturbs the self-made millionaire's happiness so much that she quickly buys the prefabricated building where she grew up. She wants to return to the place one last time - but can the past and the pain there be overcome?

Streaming available from: Monday, 7:30 pm

©Daniela Opp

UMMI & ZAKI

Director: Daniela Opp | Germany 2024 | 4 min. | German with English subtitles | age rating: 0

›Now we‘re friends for life‹, says Zaki. But Ummi doesn‘t know if that‘s what she wants. Because Zaki may be a great dreamer, but he‘s short, hairy and ugly. When the two of them get into great danger, they have to find out what kind of bond really connects them. A short story about courage, tolerance and friendship at second sight.

Streaming available from: Monday, 7:30 pm

BLACKMOLL (SCHWARZMOLL)

Director: Alessia Mandanici | Germany, USA 2023 | 19 min. | German with English subtitles | age rating: 6

Karla is a crafty second grader who loves drawing, her best friend Nele, and most of all: spending time with her grandmother – who, more and more, keeps seeing things that don’t exist. Despite her young age, Karla understands what everyone around her doesn’t seem to: while her grandmother’s perception might be different, it feels just as real. When she overhears her mom talking about a nursing home, she understands the impending threat. Proof is needed to avoid losing her grandma, but Karla’s plan doesn’t go unnoticed.

Streaming available from: Monday, 7:30 pm

HULDUFÓLK - A HIDDEN WORLD (HULDUFÓLK - EINE VERBORGENE WELT)

Director: Andri Freyr Gilbertsson, Aron Pétur Ólafsson | Germany 2024 | 29 min. | English, German, Icelandic with English subtitles | age rating: 6

12-year-old Lara moves from Germany to Iceland with her sister Stella and her parents. While Stella soon makes friends, Lara finds it difficult to fit into Icelandic society - until she meets the mysterious Rúna. She belongs to the Huldufólk, a community of elves who live in secret. Lara is surprised to discover that she is one of the few humans able to see elves. When Rúna's elf village is threatened by the construction of a harbor, a great adventure begins for everyone.

Streaming available from: Monday, 7:30 pm

Guest program Bundesfestival junger Film

DOUZE

Director: Hannah Weissenborn | Germany, France 2023 | 25 min. | French with English subtitles | no age rating

Damien and Max vow to get off the streets. But during a police eviction from the homeless camp in the Bois de Vincennes in Paris, Damien is injured and needs an operation. Without a permanent address, however, this is not possible. In a world that constantly puts obstacles in their way, they have to fight for Damien's health, their dignity and their future.

Streaming available from: Monday, 7:30 pm

KonstantinJohann

INTO THE WILDLAND (INS WILDE LAND)

Director: Emil Kaschka | Austria 2024 | 20 min. | no age rating

The young artist couple Jonas and Emma travel to Tyrol. In their old home, they want to say goodbye to Emma's terminally ill childhood sweetheart. But their encounter with the dying Luca changes their view of their art, their lives - and above all their relationship.

Streaming available from: Monday, 7:30 pm

RUMINANT (WIEDERKÄUER)

Director: Jannis Welters, Brandon-Marlon Moldenhauer, Zabi Tajik, Mark Tumba| Germany 2023 | 16 min. | German with English subtitles | no age rating

“Ruminant” shows two friends who find each other again after years of separation. They wrestle with unspoken conflicts, seeking closeness and forgiveness through honest confrontation.

Streaming available from: Monday, 7:30 pm

Guest program Dreh’s um!

WOHNEN AUF ZEIT

Director: Jasmin Phan| Germany 2021 | 8 min. | German with English subtitles | no age rating

Together with her father Thao, director Jasmin Phan embarks on a journey back to the time of his arrival in Germany 40 years ago. A search for traces of her own family history, which reveals new facets of her father to Jasmin and sheds light on the period of German reunification from the perspective of a former contract worker.

Streaming available from: Monday, 7:30 pm

DUNKELBLAU, WIE ICH MICH FÜHLE

Alone among prefabricated buildings, 15-year-old Gerda confronts her loneliness with the help of the director. She encounters a chaos of feelings that she herself does not understand and explores questions about her identity, her family and friendship. With the help of artistic means such as singing, acting and TikTok videos, she confidently confronts the dark blue in her life.

Streaming available from: Monday, 7:30 pm

ALLES GEHÖRT ZU DIR

Director: Mani Pham Bui, Hien Nguyen | Germany 2022 | 13 min. | German, Vietnamese with English subtitles | no age rating

Being different or not feeling like you belong is not a foreign feeling for many Vietnamese Germans, especially for Yen Nguyen. She is instinctively overcome by the feeling of wanting to fit in with the masses in the small German town. To be more white, to have more German friends. From her new life in Oslo, 900 kilometers away from her family, she embarks on a journey back to her roots.

Streaming available from: Monday, 7:30 pm

©Toni Bui

ZUHAUSE IST DORT, WO DIE STERNFRÜCHTE SAUER SIND

Director: Huy Nguyen | Germany 2024 | 24 min. | Vietnamese, German with English subtitles | no age rating

Huy‘s transcontinental relationship with his grandparents alternates between closeness and distance. After years of absence he visits them and embarks on a highly personal journey to the source of emotional conflict between the generations within his family.

Streaming available from: Monday, 7:30 pm

MOTHERLAND

Director: Lan Mi Lê | Germany 2023 | 4 min. | English

With the song “Motherland”, the Vietnamese-German singer Another Nguyen embarks on a search for her own identity. Archive images from the early 1990s in East Germany awaken memories of her childhood and meet recently recorded VHS footage from Vietnam. Melancholy sounds blur the boundaries between then and now.

Streaming available from: Monday, 7:30 pm