DOK.fest München Podcast. Im Kino. Zuhause.

THE PICKERS

Germany, Greece, Portugal 2024 – Director: Elke Sasse

All types of fruit and vegetables are available to us year round – but the effects on the workers who make this possible are ignored. Their picking speed is more important than their living conditions. It quickly becomes clear that Europe is dictated to by the market and not by the people. In THE PICKERS, the camera reveals endless swathes of farmland and the people who suffer for our luxury. Katharina Dolles

Biography

In her films, Elke Sasse often deals with global and socio-political themes such as the connections between trade policy and migration. Sasse has won several international awards, including the Prix Europa 2016 for her film #MYESCAPE. 

OUR LAND, OUR FREEDOM#

Germany, Kenya, Portugal, United States 2023

https://www.dokfest-muenchen.de/films/our-land-our-freedom

In search of the remains of her father, the Kenyan Mau Mau freedom fighter Dedan Kimathi, his daughter Wanjugu meets her father’s former comrades-in-arms. To this day, the veterans are still waiting for the return of their dispossessed land by the Kenyan government and the former colonial power of Great Britain. Wanjugu strives to continue her parents’ fight for freedom and justice. Barbara Off

Biography

Kenyan filmmaker and editor Zippy Kimundu completed a Master's degree at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. She founded Afrofilms International: a women-led film and TV production company and creative collective in Kenya.

Meena Nanji is a Kenyan filmmaker who produces, writes and shoots documentary films and experimental videos. She also organises and curates film screenings and festivals.

Petra Lataster-Czisch und Peter Lataster ist die Hommage des DOK.fest 2024 gewidmet. Die feinfühlige Annäherung an ihre Protagonist*innen ist Dreh- und Angelpunkt ihrer Arbeit. Im Gespräch mit den beiden geht Filmemacherin Rebecca Zehr auf eine Spurensuche, wie diese Nähe überhaupt entstehen kann, was Vertrauen auf einem Film-Set bedeutet und wie Privates und Berufliches sich vermutlich nie ganz trennen lässt.

Biografie

Petra Lataster-Czisch wurde in der DDR in Dessau geboren. Sie arbeitet als Drehbuchautorin und Regisseurin. 

Peter Lataster, geboren in den Niederlanden, ist als Kameramann tätig. Gemeinsam bilden sie seit 1989 ein Filmteam. Mit Lataster Films gründeten sie 2001 ihre eigene Produktionsfirma.

EINHUNDERTVIER

Germany 2023 – Director: Jonathan Schörnig

104 refugees, 80 minutes, 6 cameras shooting in parallel. This sea rescue in real-time unfolds over a gruellingly long period of time. Eventually all the refugees from the overloaded, rapidly deflating dinghy are on board the “Eleonore”. Meticulously documented and told entirely from the point of view of the rescue team, this film demonstrates the urgency of humanitarian operations in the Mediterranean. 

Biography

Leipzig-born director Jonathan Schörnig gained early experience in television and film. In 2015, he graduated as a media designer for image/sound and won the FineX trainee award. He then worked as a cameraman and is currently studying at the Bauhaus University in Weimar.

A dialogue on decolonisation between Africa and Europe

In a panel discussion following the film THE EMPTY GRAVE, we brought together the common threads of the four African Encounters films. With the filmmakers from Africa and Europe, we will discuss their views on colonial history. How does colonialism continue to shape our relationship today? And what does the reworking of history have to do with change and progress?

Panelists:

Cece Mlay (co-director THE EMPTY GRAVE), Tanzania
Cece Mlay is a Tanzanian director and works as a creative supervisor at the production company Kijiweni Productions in Dar es Salaam. THE EMPTY GRAVE, co-directed with Agnes Lisa Wegener, is her documentary feature film debut.

Agnes Lisa Wegner (co-director THE EMPTY GRAVE), Germany
Agnes Lisa Wegner lives in Mannheim, Germany. She studied American and African-American Studies and Film Studies in Berlin and at Harvard University.

Zippy Kimundu (co-director OUR LAND, OUR FREEDOM), Kenya
Kenyan filmmaker and editor Zippy Kimundu completed a Master’s degree at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. She founded Afrofilms International: a women-led film and TV production company and creative collective in Kenya.

Lieven Courthouts (director THIS IS MY MOMENT), Belgium
Lieven Corthouts is a self-taught filmmaker who travelled the world before living in Ethiopia for 10 years, during which time the two feature documentaries MY FUTURE and LITTLE HEAVEN were made. Together with academy award winning director Orlando von Einsiedel he made the Netflix documentary CONVERGENCE: COURAGE IN A CRISIS.

Raoul Bagopha (expert Misereor), Germany/Cameroon
Dr. Raoul Bagopha comes from Cameroon, studied political science and works in the International Cooperation Department of the Episcopal agency Misereor. There he is involved in various working groups on the topic of decolonization.

SHAHID

Germany 2024 – Director: Narges Kalhor

Nomadic cinema that tells marvellous stories. What if your surname Shahid means martyr, incorporates generations of political traumas and seems to be getting in the way of your future? Are the hurdles bureaucratic or personal? Which are your own and which belong to others? SHAHID is an artistically interwoven film about a post-migrant family history and about the freedom to transcend genre boundaries in filmmaking. 

Biography

Narges Kalhor, born in Tehran, is studying film in her home country and at HFF Munich. She does cross-media work with art installations and experimential storytelling in film.

FILMSTUNDE_23

Germany 2023 – Director: Jörg Adolph, Edgar Reitz

An 8th grade class of schoolgirls embarks on a voyage of discovery. They want to understand how film works. Because, as their teacher Edgar Reitz explains, filmmaking is not simply achieved by turning on the camera and recording something. At first they are passive, but they soon dare to take their first steps and master the technology. At a reunion many years later, we find out what effect these first film classes had. 

Biography

Edgar Reitz is a renowned filmmaker, known among other things for the Heimat film series. He is the founding father of German auteur film and has published numerous texts on film theory and the future of cinema.

Jörg Adolph works as a freelance documentary filmmaker, writes film reviews and teaches. In his films, he often accompanies artistic creative processes.

ECHOES FROM BORDERLAND

Germany 2023 – Director: Lara Milena Brose

Ferida, a Bosnian, lives within sight of the EU’s external border. Every day she witnesses refugees’ desperate attempts to reach the EU and her memories of violence and war come flooding back. Nahid is 15 years old and is stranded here after fleeing the Taliban. In this hypnotic narrative, the fading echoes of Ferida’s stories and Nahid’s voicemails intertwine. Jan Sebening

Biography

After a degree in philosophy and two years in Central America, Lara Milena Brose is studying documentary film directing at HFF Munich. People and their fates in harsh realities are central to her work. She is a founding member of the AK49 collective.

THE ANDERSSON BROTHERS

Sweden 2024 – Director: Johanna Bernhardson

The film world of the star director Roy Andersson is inhabited by people who are incapable of emotionally connecting to each other. He seems to feel the same about his brothers in real life. THE ANDERSSON BROTHERS, made by his niece, the filmmaker Johanna Bernhardson, is a lovingly told family chronicle about stubborn men and a tale that seeks to bring about reconciliation before it is too late. 

Biography

Johanna Bernhardson, who studied set design, worked on SONGS FROM THE SECOND FLOOR (2000) by Roy Andersson as a set designer and prop master. Her films have been shown on Swedish television and at national and international film festivals. THE ANDERSSON BROTHERS is her first feature-length documentary film.

THE SILENCE OF 600 MILLION RESULTS

Germany 2023 – Director: Sophie Lahusen

An unwanted pregnancy – what now? A screenlife film that shows nothing more than the various screens of a young woman looking for an answer. With great panache and a little mockery, this short film shows how we are exposed to a flood of apparently ‘valuable’ clues that point in different directions while scrolling through the expanse of the internet. But which way is right? 

Biography

Having grown up in a German-French family of musicians, Sophie Lahusen initially studied art history before focusing on documentary film after traveling, internships and journalistic work. Alongside her studies, she also works as an end-of-life caregiver.

RESTORATION

Germany 2023 – Director: Gudrun Gruber

Trauma research has become more visible in recent years, but what if the trauma is directly in front of you? Sabrina’s anxiety, panic attacks and seizures could only be endured by her family because Sabrina did one thing: she never gave up on herself. A film about a courageous woman who insists on not being defined only by her past but on determining her own future. 

Biography

Gudrun Gruber studied fine arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and documentary film directing at the HFF in Munich. Here she realized several short films as well as three feature-length films. RESTORATION is her graduation film.

HAUSNUMMER NULL

Germany 2024 – Director: Lilith Kugler

Chris is on the floor. Literally. Life on the streets is draining. Every day is a battle: to get money for drugs and with a past that derails him. An exceptionally intense and intimate portrait that gets under your skin about a young man who somehow always carries on. He has a neighbourhood that takes care of him – and his buddy Alex. 

Biography

As a child Lilith Kugler
 lived in the Phillippines for three years, and in Burkina Faso before that. It was there that she made her first documentary film about mental health, LA MALADIE DU DÉMON. She is studying for a master’s degree in documentary film directing at the Film University Babelsberg.


MANNSCHAFT

Germany 2023 – Director: Tobit Kochanek

A group of keen football players looking for fellowship meet every Monday evening on a pitch in Görlitzer Park, the drug dealers’ mecca. The “pack of men with the same mindset” reflect on masculinity, heartbreak and midlife crisis and seem so likeable that you want to go and cheer them on from the side-lines yourself.

Biography

Tobit Kochanek studied Scenic Arts in Hildesheim and worked as an assistant director and in casting after graduating. He has been studying at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg since 2019.

MAÑANA SOL

Germany 2023 – Director: Denis Pavlovic

Retiring to the Canary Islands is a pensioner’s dream but when Jadranka and Aleksandar Pavlovic arrive there, they separate and live from then on on different islands, five and a half hours apart from each other. In magnificent images and playful montage sequences the film sketches a paradise with a peculiar slant. Nothing is as it seems here. An unforgivingly open family portrait. 

Biography

After numerous internships, exhibitions, and travels, Denis Pavlovic focussed on documentary film directing at the Ludwigsburg Film Academy. Together with Julia Meyer-Pavlovic, he founded the production company Glass Frog Films. MAÑANA SOL is his graduation film. 

HOLLYWOODGATE

Germany, United States 2023 – Director: Ibrahim Nash’at

After the USA’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, Taliban forces take over the former “Hollywoodgate” CIA base, which they see as an “enemy camp.” They are accompanied by the director Nash’at. His footage gives us a unique cinematic experience and a record of contemporary history, that observes the terrorist militia without commentary as they are carried away by the euphoria of their power trip, a fervour to explore and megalomania. 

Biography 

Ibrahim Nash’at is an Egyptian documentary filmmaker. He holds a master’s degree in documentary film from Met Film School Berlin. As journalist, he has worked for Deutsche Welle and Al Jazeera, among others. HOLLYWOODGATE is his first feature-length film as a director. 

Moderation: Vera Drude

LIGHT FALLS VERTICAL, DE, IT, NL, ES 2022, Efthymia Zymvragaki

How deep can you look into a perpetrator’s soul? We meet Ernesto, a man who wants to face up to the violence that he inflicted on his family. The filmmaker not only examines the personality of this desperate man, she also draws on his memories, in order to find the key to her own painful ones. Two people: a perpetrator and a victim.

Biography

Efthymia Zymvragaki
After graduating in Psychology, Efthymia Zymvragaki studied photography and completed a Masters in Production and Artistic Research at the University of Barcelona. She co-founded the production company Gris Medio with Angelo Orlando.

Moderation: Ysabel Fantou

CHARLOTTE SALOMON, LIFE AND THE MAIDEN

FR 2023, Delphine und Muriel Coulin 

A self-portrait, the chronicle of a life, the suffering of an entire generation. Charlotte Salomon depicted her life story in more than 1300 pictures - from her childhood in 1930s Berlin, through the rise of National Socialism to her escape to France. The Coulin sisters draw a moving portrait of an artist, her tragically short life and her avant-garde work. 

Biography

Delphine and Muriel Coulin
The sisters have been working as a directing duo for over 20 years. Muriel Coulin works as a cinematographer, her sister Delphine also works as a novelist. They became known for their feature film 17 GIRLS. CHARLOTTE SALOMON is their third feature film.

Moderation: Eleonore Daniel

WIR UND DAS TIER – EIN SCHLACHTHAUSMELODRAM, DE 2023, David Spaeth

Many people have become completely disconnected with the process of killing in which meat production originates. What does it mean for the people whose job it is to slaughter? And what impact does it have on us to face up to it? There are no ready-made answers. That is what we learn from this intelligent film that observes processes, listens and makes the meat-eating viewers step out of their comfort zone. 

Biography

David Spaeth first studied humanities at the Ruhr University in Bochum and then directing at the Baden-Württemberg Film Academy. The documentary director teaches at the Filmakademie and at the HFF Munich. His film BETRUG was awarded the Grimme Prize 2019.

Moderation: Silvia Bauer

SEVEN WINTERS IN TEHRAN, FR, DE 2023, Steffi Niederzoll

“I wish for the day when no girl is raped anymore. I wish for the day when the rights of the weak are not violated anymore.” Reyhaneh Jabbari killed in self-defence, stood up for her rights and was sentenced to death. She was 26 years old. The protagonist’s courage and absolute determination leave a deep impression. Against the background of the current women’s rights movement in Iran, this is an explosive and depressing film. Helga-Mari Steininger

Biography

Steffi Niederzoll
Studied audiovisual media art in Cologne and in Cuba. Her short films have been screened at numerous international film festivals such as the Berlinale. She took part in various directing master classes and was a scholarship holder at the Cultural Academy Tarabya, Turkey. Together with Shole Pakravan, she wrote the book "How to Become a Butterfly", which will be published in 2023. SEVEN WINTERS IN TEHERAN is her first feature-length documentary film.

Moderation: Malte Borgmann

UMBERTO ECO – A LIBRARY OF THE WORLD, IT 2022, Davide Ferrario

“Without a memory it’s impossible to build a future.” The writer and philosopher Umberto Eco opens the doors to his private library – a memory bank. With interviews and tracking shots through libraries, the film approaches the fascination for the collection and collation of knowledge. The portrait shows Eco as an intelligent and self-deprecating man whose encyclopaedic hunger is infectious. Michael Kohl

 Biography

At a young age, Davide Ferrario worked as a film critic and wrote his first screenplay in 1986. He then began directing himself, alternating between documentaries and feature films. He received a David di Donatello for the film DOPO MEZZANOTTE.

Moderation: Florian Schwarz

MOTHERLAND, NO, SE, UA 2023 , Hanna Badziaka, Alexander Mihalkovich

National service in Belarus lasts 18 months. Nikita gets called up and has one last party with his friends before he dons his uniform and starts his duties. Svetlana’s son Sascha returned from his barracks in a coffin covered with bruises and with strangulation marks on his neck. After the rigged elections in 2020, the militarised violence is unleashed on protestors. Silvia Bauer

Biography

Hanna Bedziaka has an MA in Philology and worked as an independent video and TV journalist in Minsk.
Belarusian-Ukrainian filmmaker Alexander Mihalkovich has a PhD in library science and subsequently studied directing.

Moderation: Elena Álvarez-Lutz

LÁZARO AND THE SHARK. CUBA UNDER THE SURFACE, CU, US 2022, William Sabourin O'Reilly

Once a year, the inhabitants of Santiago de Cuba pour into the streets for carnival. It is both the expression of joie de vivre and of subtle criticism – arrests are quite likely. Dance and rhythm unite Cuban identity. Without huge financial resources but instead great inventiveness, the people craft their costumes and floats themselves. A celebration of perseverance in Cuba! 

Biography

Born in Havana, Cuban director William Sabourin O'Reilly moved to the USA to study at the College of Fine Arts in New Orleans. There he worked on the Emmy award-winning film Witness Katrina and as a cinematographer for various shows on HBO, PBS and Telemundo.

Moderation: Ina Borrmann

GRETAS GEBURT, DE 2023, Katja Baumgarten

Greta, a little girl, is stillborn. Four years later, her midwife is on trial for manslaughter. The charge is unusually severe. The court works meticulously. Perceptions and interpretations arise in the reconstruction of Greta’s birth, because social issues are also discussed at the same time as the case. A documentary narrative spanning ten years. 

Biography

Katja Baumgarten
1981 Midwifery examination. Studied fine arts at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hanover, then film studies at the University of Fine Arts Braunschweig. Founding member of the Filmwerkstatt Dokumentarisch Arbeiten e.V. in Hamburg. Freelance filmmaker since 2000.

Moderation: Barbara Off

AFRICA, I WILL FLEECE YOU, CM 1992, Jean-Marie Teno

Filmmaker Jean-Marie Teno wanders the streets of Yaoundé with his companion Marie in search of Cameroonian culture. With snarky humour, Teno guides us through the complexities of colonialism and its consequences. Archive material, fictional elements and interviews combine to create a piece of film art that represents a new decolonialised aesthetic and a cinema of resistance. 

Biography

Jean-Marie Teno studied audiovisual communication at the University of Valenciennes. He worked as chief editor for the French television channel France 3 from 1985 to 1997. He has lived in France since 1978 and travels annually to Cameroon.

Moderation: Elena Álvarez-Lutz

THE DECREE, TR 2023, Nejla Demirci 

When a wave of dismissals follows the attempted coup in Turkey, Yasemin, a doctor, and Engin, a teacher, are among those who suddenly find themselves on the streets. They try in vain to get their jobs back or just to find out the reason they were fired. For President Erdoğan however it is clear: those affected are not real Turks but “terrorists.” Then the film project also draws the attention of the authorities… 
Biography

Nejla Demirci
After completing her sociology studies, Demirci worked in various service sectors. In 2010, she made her first documentary film SUNFLOWER. Like her follow-up film CONFRONTATION, it won numerous awards.

Moderation: Malte Borgmann

COWBOY POETS, UK, US 2022, Mike Day

Cowboys and poetry? Every year in Nevada, these two seemingly incongruous things come together. The poets recount their unique way of life, their connection to nature and their identity. In their everyday lives they grapple with environmental threats and you can sense a political rift. Songs and poems glide over impressive images. A documentary western about a lyrical cowboy lifestyle. 

Biography

Mike Day
Scottish director and cinematographer Mike Day began his professional career as a lawyer. In 2009 he founded the company Intrepid Cinema. His films, supported by the Sundance Institute among others, have screened at international festivals and earned him prestigious nominations and awards.

Moderation: Barbara Off

FREE MONEY, KE, US 2022, Lauren DeFilippo, Sam Soko

“Nothing is for free. How can you give us money without wanting anything in return?” the inhabitants of a village in Kenya ask. The American NGO GiveDirectly will pay every villager 22 US dollars per month for 12 years. The universal basic income is funded by the likes of Google. An experiment on people that aims to combat poverty but also raises moral questions. 

Biographies

Sam Soko is a Kenyan director, producer and editor. He screened the world premiere of his debut film SOFTIE at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. He is the co-founder of LBx Africa, a Kenyan production company that brings African perspectives to international audiences.

Lauren DeFilippo works as a director and producer for Insignia, a New York-based production company. In 2021, she was named to DOC NYC and HBO's annual list of "40 Under 40" documentarians to keep an eye on.

Moderation: Pablo Bücheler

IRON BUTTERFLIES, DE, UA 2023 – Director: Roman Liubyi

Iron Butterflies, butterfly-shaped projectiles disintegrated and brought down the passenger plane MH17 over eastern Ukraine on 17 July 2014. All 298 people on board were killed. While the mills of the law took years to convict the perpetrators, a rock-solid web of lies had been erected around the downing of the plane in Russia soon after. The film is a meticulous and artful approach to what remains when truth collides with grotesque falsification. With archival footage from international and Russian media, voices of eyewitnesses and perpetrators, the film examines how a world has been created in Russia in which violence can only be defended by lies and lies can only be maintained by violence. 

Biography

Roman Liubyi is a Ukrainian filmmaker and editor working in cinematography, theatre and music. His documentary debut WAR NOTE is a surreal cinematic journey to the frontline of the war between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, edited together from found footage of Ukrainian soldiers from 2014. Since 2013, Liubyi has been part of the film collective Babylon'13: Cinema of Civil Society.

Moderation: Silvia Bauer

EREN, DE 2023, Maria Binder

Lawyer and activist Eren Keskin has advocated for the rights of women, minorities and LGBTIQ in Turkey for over 30 years – not allowing herself to be deterred by the constant risk of being jailed. The director has followed Keskin over many years. Her film draws a portrait of a fearless women and her battle against oppression and violence. 

Biography

Maria Binder is a German documentary filmmaker and human rights activist. She develops content for the educational and cultural sector. Her documentary work focuses on human rights, gender and (anti-)racism.

Moderation: Eva Weinmann

VAI CAVALO, BR, FR 2022, Harold Grenouilleau, Vincent Rimbaux

The idyllic greenery of their surroundings is deceptive: Dirlinho and his cousin’s childhood is marked by deprivation and violence. They try to escape by working as jockeys. While the punters – mostly older men – bet on them, they gamble with their lives for a better future by riding doped horses. Always on the protagonists’ eye level, the film captures their balancing act between hope and hopelessness. Sara Gómez Schüller

Writer: Harold Grenouilleau. Camera: Vincent Rimbaux. Sound: Harold Grenouilleau. Editing: Fabian Remy. Music: Vitor Cozilos. Production: Babel Doc. Producer: Stéphanie Lebrun. Length: 66 min.

Biography

Harold Grenouilleau has worked as editor-in-chief and later as artistic director for France Télévisions, Canal+ and Europa Corp. VAI CAVALO is his first film as writer/director.

Vincent Rimbaux is chief cinematographer, editor and director. He is primarily active as a cinematographer.

Moderation: Seggen Mikael

MARGOT, PT 2022, Catarina Alves Costa

A perspective on a perspective that seeks to document what has seemingly disappeared. On several occasions between 1958 and 1961, the anthropologist Margot Dias visited the Makonde in Mozambique to record their art and culture. The director rediscovers these recordings and travels to their place of origin. In Mozambique she shows the material to the descendants of the Makonde and symbolically returns it to them. Sara Gómez Schüller

Biography

Catarina Alves Costa
The assistant professor works at the NOVA University of Lisbon in the field of visual anthropology and film and has long been active as an international filmmaker and lecturer for various universities. She has received numerous awards for her films.

Moderation: Eva Weinmann

SCAB VENDOR, BR 2022, Mariana Thome, Lucas De Barros

Jonathan Shaw’s life could have been written by Charles Bukowski. Between Brasil, New York and L.A., drug addiction and art, surrounded by stars and his famous clients and friends – Johnny Depp, Jim Jarmusch and Iggy Pop – the tattoo artist is constantly finding new ways to manifest himself: he is an illustrator, dropout and author – and at the same time remains an outlaw at heart. 

Biography

Mariana Thome grew up on the island of Florianopolis in southern Brazil and studied at the New York Film Academy. Today she lives and works in Los Angeles. As Creative Director of the artist collective MARACA from Venice Beach, she has produced several internationally successful short films.

Moderation: Ysabel Fantou

PIANOFORTE, DE, PL 2023, Jakub Piątek

Steinway or Kawai? The choice of grand piano is just one of many critical decisions that those taking part in the international Chopin competition must make. Every five years, the most promising upcoming pianists compete here. Talent alone is not enough. We closely follow six competitors who have to demonstrate their self-discipline and ability to handle stress on a daily basis. Which of them will end up winning the race? Anja Klauck

Biography

Jakub Piątek
Graduated from Łódź Film School, teaching feature film directing there since 2021. Worked as a journalist and cultural manager before graduating.

Moderation: Moritz Holfelder

FLOATING ISLANDS, DE, CH 2023, Simone Fürbringer, Nicolas Humbert

“We are what we see and what we don’t see.” How did we get to where we are now? What is lurking in this cinematic dragnet of film fragments and somnambulistic snippets of the present day? “The images help us to accept reality like a spoon helps us to eat,” this extravagant stream of consciousness tells us. Curtain up: open ending guaranteed. 

 Biographies

Simone Fürbringer
Born in Basel in 1957, Simone Fürbringer is a filmmaker and editor who has worked as a cinematographer, journalist, photographer and acrobat and studied at the HFF Munich (graduating in 1994).

Nicolas Humbert
Born in 1958, the director and producer was a co-founder of the filmmakers' cooperative "Der Andere Blick" and studied at the HFF Munich (graduated in 1987).

The pair has worked together successfully since 1993.

Moderation: Christina Wolf

BLIX NOT BOMBS

The 21st century is marked by wars, the climate crisis and political extremes. If we understood what went wrong in the past, could we learn from our mistakes? The director poses this question to herself and to Hans Blix, the former UN weapons inspector and an important player in the political crises of recent decades. A fascinating look at 60 years of world history. 

Biography

Greta Stocklassa comes from a Czech-Swedish family. She has been studying documentary film at FAMU in Prague since 2013. Her films straddle the line between documentary, fiction and experiment and tell of the darker side of affluent Western society.

Moderation: Christina Wolf

BLUE ID, TR 2022 – Director: Burcu Melekoğlu, Vuslat Karan

During his gender reassignment, Rüzgar, an actor, was publicly outed and vilified by the transphobic Turkish tabloid press. With a strong will and steady support, he fights for the recognition of his identity within the dominant conservative blue/pink framework. In lively Istanbul, Burcu Melekoğlu accompanies him on this long journey that leaves you little room to breathe.

 Biography

Burcu Melekoğlu, a graduate of the UCLA School of Film and Television, works as a director and editor in Istanbul and is the founder of the production company Moxie. BLUE ID is her first feature-length documentary film.

Moderation: Eva Bauriedl

ART TALENT SHOW, CZ 2022, Adela Komrzy

What do young artists need to shape the world of tomorrow? Is it enough to just be talented or does art go beyond that? The Academy of Fine Arts in Prague offers an invitation to an entrance examination: portfolios and candidates are inspected, artistic aspirations are discussed as well as gender issues and life plans. Intimate and multi-layered – and often magnificently offbeat. Selime Schauer-Altinbilek

Biography

Adéla Komrzý
The Czech filmmaker studied art history at Charles University in Prague and documentary film directing at the Academy of Performing Arts. In 2018 she was among the "Berlinale Talents". Her film ART TALENT SHOW was awarded at the 2022 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

ALONE, IR 2022, Jafar Najafi

Since Amir’s father died some years ago, the 14-year-old has been responsible for his younger sisters. Against resistance from the village, he tries to save his sisters from being married off. The film shows how global changes in society reach all the way to the rural areas of Iran. Dayela Valenzuela

 Biography
The Iranian filmmaker began in cinema as a sound assistant and photographer. He then studied film at the Tehran University of the Arts. His works have been shown at numerous festivals and have won prestigious awards.

ADIEU SAUVAGE, BE 2023, Sergio Guataquira Sarmiento

Colombia, Amazon: the Cácuas are supposedly incapable of love, because they don’t have any words for such a feeling. At the same time, there is an increasing number of suicides within their community committed by young men suffering from a broken heart. The filmmaker, himself a descendent of indigenous people, wants to get to the bottom of this phenomenon and travels to the jungle to spend some time living with the people there. A relationship that could almost be described as tender begins to develop. 

Biography

Sergio Guataquira Sarmiento's name often earned him ridicule in his childhood, as it refers to his indigenous origins. He was born in Bogotá in 1987, the son of a lawyer and a supermarket worker. At the age of 19, he left his country for Europe and enrolled at the Poitiers School of Fine Arts on a student visa. During his studies, he became more and more interested in cinema and eventually successfully passed the entrance exam at the IAD film school in Belgium. In 2018, his graduation film SIMON CRIES was screened at many festivals. ADIEU SAUVAGE is his debut in feature-length documentary filmmaking.

MAGIC MOUNTAIN, GE, PL 2023, Mariam Chachia, Nik Voigt

Pills, card games and cigarettes: this is how the days go by in Abastumani. In a crumbling palatial building high in the Georgian mountains, people who are chronically ill with tuberculosis live in complete isolation – until they find out that their unloved home is to be demolished. In calm and clear images, MAGIC MOUNTAIN tells of a parallel world and how it begins to falter. 

Biography

Mariam Chachia graduated from Shot Rustaveli Georgian State University of Theatre and Film in 2003. She worked for film and TV productions for several years, and in 2012 she shot her first documentary film KIROV STREET 8. In 2014 she founded the organisation OpyoDoc, which strives for social change projects.

Moderation: Daniel Lang

SHE CHEF, AT, DE 2022, Melanie Liebheit, Gereon Wetzel

Agnes' years as a young chef in Europe's Michelin-starred restaurants are instructive: she convinces the head chefs with her ability, but the pressure is enormous. Can Agnes stand her ground in this male-dominated world? Her self-declared goal is to be the boss in her own restaurant. The directors get right up close to the action in extremely cramped spaces and grant us an insight into new approaches in high-end cuisine.

Biographies

Melanie Liebheit
Studied ethnology in Munich and Manchester and documentary film at the HFF. Liebheit is co-founder and co-director of the Nonfiktionale in Bad Aibling. Together with Wetzel she already realised the film DIE KUNST DER WIDERREDE (DOK.fest Munich 2018).

Gereon Wetzel
Studied archaeology in Heidelberg, later documentary film at the HFF. Since 2008 he has been co-operating with the DVD label and streaming portal DocCollection. He lives and works as a freelance filmmaker, author and lecturer in Eichstätt/Bavaria.

Moderation: Daniel Lang

DEMON MINERAL, US 2023 – Director: Hadley Austin

On the territory of the Navajo Nation in USA, disused uranium mines pose an on-going threat to the environment of the indigenous people. Their efforts to reclaim their sacred earth and gain compensation are unfailing. Here the indigenous community of activists, artists and scientists have their say. A film manifesto that is intelligent in both its form and narrative content. Maren Willkomm

Biography

Writer and documentarian Hadley Austin has academic roots in history and social science and works as a lecturer and (audio) producer, among other things. She was a 2020 Redford Center and 2021 Bay Area Video Coalition fellow. As an artist, she publishes poetry and short films.

#RACEGIRL – DAS COMEBACK DER SOPHIA FLÖRSCH, DE 2023,Sonia Otto

Editing: Finbarr Wilbrink, Karoline Schulz

Since she was four years old, Sophia Flörsch has trained to fulfil her life’s dream – to be a Formula 1 racing driver. And she is good. Really good in fact. But what does that mean in an industry fixated on men, where only drivers whose families can provide them with start-up capital have a chance. But giving up is not an option for Sophia, despite all the setbacks. It means everything to her.

Biography

Sonia Otto
After studying Cultural Studies in Berlin and Audiovisual Media in Seville, Otto first worked as a writer and assistant director before becoming a producer in material development. #RACEGIRL is her debut as a director.

Moderation: Seggen Mikael

KOKOMO CITY, US 2023, D. Smith

Four black trans sex workers speak about their backgrounds and their everyday lives in New York and Atlanta. Their deeply honest stories expose the clichés and taboos in discussions of transsexuality. In striking black and white images and underscored with a Blaxploitation soundtrack, interviews, dramatizations and re-enactments come together into impactful biographical narratives.

Biography

Earlier in her career, D. Smith worked in the music industry as a (read male) producer, singer and songwriter, collaborated with Lil Wayne and Timbaland, among others, and was nominated for a Grammy twice. In 2014, she began her transition to womanhood. As a result, she hardly received any offers as a musician and started working on KOKOMO CITY, her first film, which took a total of three years. The film premiered at Sundance in 2023.

Moderation: Eva Weinmann

BE WATER – VOICES FROM HONG KONG, DE 2023, Lia Erbal

⁠Umbrella protests in Hong Kong: we hear the voices of people caught between hope for change and brutal repression⁠.

Nathan Law is a young political activist that has been leading the Hong Kong democracy movement. Beginning from the Umbrella Movement in 2014 where he participated as a student leader, he was there on every page of crucial moments of the movement. 

Thorsten Benner is co-founder and director of the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) in Berlin. His areas of interest include the interplay of the US, Europe and non-Western powers in the making of global (dis)order, German and European policy vis-à-vis China and Asia-Pacific, peace and security⁠ as well as ⁠data and technology politics⁠. 

Moderation: Christina Wolf

THE LAST SEAGULL, BG, FI, NO 2023, Tonislav Hristov

For the past 40 years, Ivan has been an escort on Sunny Beach in Bulgaria. He is getting tired and wants to retire and re-establish contact with his son in Kyiv. This is no easy undertaking because of the pandemic and his lack of savings. What’s more, the wealthy Russian women are hard to convince. A sentimental portrait of life with unexpected twists. 

Biography

Tonislav Hristov
The Bulgarian-born director and writer moved to Helsinki in 2003 to study film after graduating in engineering. His film "Hyvä postimies (The Good Postman)" was nominated for the European Film Award in 2017. He lives and works in Finland and Bulgaria.

Moderation: Vera Drude

BE WATER – VOICES FROM HONG KONG, DE 2023, Lia Erbal

The fight for democracy in Hong Kong has long been a battle of systems, as well as a brutal game of economic dependencies. With a collage of found footage, interviews with experts and sketches of the thoughts of young activists, the filmmaker paints a picture of a city between wild hope for change and resignation to the Chinese regime. 

Biography

Lia Erbal sees the work of Johann van der Keuken and her encounters with Bela Tarr and György Ligeti as the most important impulses for her work. Her films focus on the questions of fundamental changes brought about by the era of economic globalisation and what the upheavals do to the lives of each individual. She searches for new ways of working and expressing complexity, the dialogical and the change of perspective.