2025

74th International Film Festival Mannheim-Heidelberg
6 to 16 November 2025

Director
Dr. Sascha Keilholz (Artistic & Managerial Director)

Head of Programme
Alfred Stumm
Programme Management
Tim Moeck
Alfred Stunm
Programme Coordination
Philipp Schwarz
Curator YOUNG FILM FESTIVAL
Julia Fischer
Curator RETROSPEKTIVE
Hannes Brühwiler
Curator FACING NEW CHALLENGES
Lena Reitschuster
Internship Programme Coordination
Paulina Heeg
Programme Advisors
Jérôme d'Estais, Violeta Kovacsics, Louise Malherbe, Petra Palmer, Daniela Persico, Anselm Scherer, Alfred Stumm, Cécile Tollu-Polonowski

Head of Production
Julia Fischer
Project Management
Lena Reitschuster
Technical Project Lead
Michael Woll
Guest Management
Susanne Berckhemer, Ben Unger, Timo Schrepp, Laura Undisz
Technical Assistance Festival Production
Eno Haque
Production Assistance & YOUNG FILM FESTIVAL
Emelie Jung
Accreditations
Julia Schadler
Traineeship Accreditations
Paulina Heeg
Internship Festival Production
Andreas Resch
Shuttle Management
Lilly Schott, Jonas Schirmer
Ticketing
Frederike Stang, Felix Ockel,

Head of Editorial Content
Alfred Stumm
Marketing and Public Relations
Rebecca Raab
Internship Marketing and Social Media
Nida Karuserci
Media Design & Branding
Alex Rozmann
Social Media
Florian Dörr

Partner Management & YOUNG FILM FESTIVAL
Katharina Breiding
Assistant to the Festival Direction
Nicole Zuricov
Office Management
Stephanie Ebs
Accounting
Evelyn Gutfleisch
HR
Sarah Ulbrich

Head of CUTTING EDGE TALENT CAMP
Tina Haagmann, Titus Kreyenberg, Cécile Tollu-Polonowski

Sponsors
Stadt Mannheim, Stadt Heidelberg, Land Baden-Württemberg, BKM, MFG, Manfred Lautenschläger-Stiftung, Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation, cbs

The Jury

International Jury
Christian Klandt
Dea Kulumbegashvili
Katalin Moldovai

FIPRESCI Jury
Tereza Brdečková
Assiya Issemberdiyeva
Britta Schmeis

Ecumenical Jury
Edgar Octavio Rubio Hernandez
Marcsi Tóth
Kjell Riise

Junge Jury
Effi Armbrust
Firenze Leem
Sara Wasicsek

Awards

International Newcomer Award - Beste Regie (30.000 Euro)

›Nighttime Sounds‹
Dirctor: Zhang Zhongchen
Country: China

Special Mention:
›Funeral Casino Blues‹
Director: Roderick Warich
Country: Germany

Rainer Werner Fassbinder Award - Bestes Drehbuch (15.000 Euro)

›Blue Heron‹
Screenplay: Sophy Romvari
Countries: Ungarn, Kanada

Young Actors Award (10.000 Euro)
Noah Sayenko in ›Rain fell on the Nothing New‹
Country: Germany

FIPRESCI Award

›Reedland‹
Director: Sven Bresser
Countries: Niederlande, Belgien

Ecumenical Award (2.500 Euro)

›Sink‹
Director: Zain Duraie
Countries: Jordanien, Saudi-Arabien, Katar, Frankreich

Special Mention:
›Adam's Sake‹
Director: Laura Wandel
Countries: Belgien, Frankreich

Award of the Student Jury (5.000 Euro)

›Blue Heron‹
Director: Sophy Romvari
Countries: Ungarn, Kanada

Audience Award (5.000 Euro)

›Surviving Earth‹
Director: Thea Gajic
Country: UK

Programme

OPENING NIGHT

• ›Inside Amir‹ - Director: Amir Azizi, Country: Iran

CENTRE PIECE

• ›Mile End Kicks‹ - Director: Chandler Levack, Country: Kanada

CLOSING NIGHT

• ›The Threesome‹ - Director: Chad Hartigan, Country: USA

International Competition - ON THE RISE

• ›Adam's Sake‹ D: Laura Wandel, Belgium, France
• ›Blue Heron‹ D: Sophy Romvari, Hungary, Canada
• ›Cuerpo Celeste‹ D: Nayra Ilic García, Italy, Chile
• ›Follies‹ D: Eric K. Boulianne, Canada
• ›Funeral Casino Blues‹ D: Roderick Warich, Germany
• ›Lemonade Blessing‹ D: Chris Merola, USA
• ›LifeHack‹D: Ronan Corrigan, UK
• ›Mama‹ D: Or Sinai, Israel, Poland, Italy
• ›Milk Teeth‹D: Mihai Mincan, Rumania, Denmark, Greece, Bulgaria, France
• ›Nighttime Sounds‹ D: Zhang Zhongchen, China
• ›Noviembre‹ D: Tomás Corredor, Columbia, Brazil, Mexico, Norway
• ›Reedland‹ D: Sven Bresser, The Netherlands, Belgium
• ›Sink‹ D: Zain Duraie, Jordan, Saudi-Arabia, Qatar, France
• ›Surviving Earth‹ D: Thea Gajić, UK
• ›Traffic‹ D: Teodora Ana Mihai, Rumania, Belgium, The Netherlands
• ›White Flowers and Fruits‹ D: Yukari Sakamoto, Japan

PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES

• ›It was just an Accident‹ D: Jafar Panahi, Iran, Luxembourg, France
• ›Enzo‹ D: Robin Campillo, France, Belgium, Italy
• ›I only rest in the Storm‹ D: Pedro Pinho, Portugal, Brazil, Rumania, France
• ›Die jüngste Tochter‹ D: Hafsia Herzi, Frankreich, Deutschland
• ›Kokuho‹ D: Lee Sang-il, Japan
• ›Once upon a Time in Gaza‹ D: Tarzan Nasser, Arab Nasser, Palestine, Germany, Portugal, France
• ›On the Road‹ D: David Pablos, Mexico
• ›Orphan‹ D: László Nemes, Hungary, Germany, UK, France, Cyprus
• ›Peter Hujar's Day‹ D: Ira Sachs, USA, Germany
• ›Mother D: Teona Strugar Mitevska, Noth Macedonia, Belgium
• ›The last Viking‹ D: Anders Thomas Jensen, Denmark
• ›The Things You Kill‹ D: Alireza Khatami, Kanada, Turkey, Poland, France
• ›What Does That Nature Say to You‹ D: Hong Sangsoo, South Korea
• ›Yakushima's Illusion‹ D: Naomi Kawase, Japan, France, Belgium, Luxembourg
• ›Two Prosecutors‹ D: Sergei Loznitsa, Germany, The Netherlands, Latvia, Rumania, France

FILMSCAPES

• ›All I had was Nothingness‹ Guillaume Ribot, France
• ›Be Loved‹ Elisa Amoruso, Italy
• ›The Doll‹ Sophie Beaulieu, France
• ›Do You Love Me‹ Lana Daher, Lebanon, Germany, Qatar, France
• ›Roofman‹ Derek Cianfrance, USA
• ›The President's Cake‹ Hasan Hadi, Iraq, USA, Qatar
• ›Madame Kika‹ Alexe Poukine, Belgium, France
• ›Militantropos‹ Yelizaveta Smith, Alina Gorlova, Simon Mozgovyi, Ukraine, Austria, France
• ›Nino‹ Pauline Loquès, France
• ›Our Father‹ Goran Stanković, Serbia, Croatia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy
• ›Palliativ Care Unit‹ Philipp Döring, Germany
• ›Rain fell on the Nothing New‹ Steffen Goldkamp, Germany
• ›Renoir‹ Chie Hayakawa, Japan, France, Singapur, Philippines, Indonesia, Qatar
• ›Rental Family‹ Hikari, USA, Japan
• ›The Summer Book‹ Charlie McDowell, Finnland, UK
• ›Under the Flags, the Sun‹ Juanjo Pereira, Paraguay, Argentinia, USA, Germany, France
• ›Waking Hours‹ Federico Cammarata, Filippo Foscarini, Italy
• ›Wild Foxes‹ Valéry Carnoy, Belgium, France

RETROSPECTIVE - BODIES IN FILM

• ›An Affair to Remember‹ Leo McCarey, USA, 1957
• ›All that Heaven Allows‹ Douglas Sirk, USA, 1955
• ›Breaking the Waves‹ Lars von Trier, Denmark, 1996
• ›The Broken Circle Breakdown‹ Felix van Groeningen, Belgium, 2012
• ›Cairo Station‹ Youssef Chahine, Egypt, 1958
• ›Hongkong Love Affair‹ Peter Ho-Sun Chan, Hongkong, 1996
• ›In the Mood for Love‹ Wong Kar-Wai, Hongkong, 2000
• ›The Long Day Closes‹ Terence Davies, UK, 1992
• ›Mildred Pierce‹ Michael Curtiz, USA, 1945
• ›Night River‹ Kōzaburō Yoshimura, Japan, 1956
• ›The Passion of Anna‹ Ingmar Bergman, Sweden 1969
• ›Rose la Rose - Fille Publique‹ Paul Vecchiali, France1986

CHILDREN'S FILM FESTIVAL

• ›Tales from the Magic Garden‹ David Súkup, Patrik Pašš, Leon Vidmar, Jean-Claude Rozec, Czech Republic, Slowakia, Slowenia, France
• ›Hola Frida‹ Karine Vézina, André Kadi, France, Canada
• ›Jahia's Summer‹ Olivier Meys, Belgium, France, Luxembuorg
• ›The Nature of Invisible Things‹ Rafaela Camelo, Brazil, Chile
• ›Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake‹ Irene Iborra Rizo, Spain, France, Belgium, Switzerland
• ›Ollie‹ Antoine Besse, France
• ›The Songbird's Secret‹ Antoine Lanciaux, France

GRAND IFFMH AWARD: Tim Fehlbaum

• ›Hell‹ Germany, Switzerland, 2011
• ›Tides‹ Germany, Switzerland, 2021
• ›September 5‹ Deutschland, 2024

FACING NEW CHALLENGES

• ›It’s up to chance! Artist: Kilian Kretschmer, Germany