IFFMH presents

Meet us beyond the festival as well!

In cooperation with our partners from the cultural scene in Mannheim and Heidelberg, we present highlights from our program and beyond throughout the year.

›Cabo Negro‹
Director: Abdellah Taïa

15 May 2025, 7 pm
Cinema: Karlstorkino Heidelberg

As part of the Queer Festival Heidelberg 2025.

What is it about? Morocco, the sun and the sea. Friends Jafaar and Soundouss are looking forward to a holiday in the luxurious holiday home of Jafaar's lover Jonathan. But Jonathan doesn't turn up. And as the villa's caretaker gradually closes in on them, the two see only one way to get by. Director Abdellah Taia is the first openly gay intellectual in Morocco. In clear, almost photographic images, his new film tells of the courage and search of two queer people for a place for themselves in a world that despises them - and the fundamental importance of community.

›Flow‹ - Oscar 2025: Best Animated Film
Director: Gints Zilbalodis

24 May 2025, 13:15 cinema tour, 14h film start
Cineplex Mannheim

As part of the Children's Festival of the City of Mannheim.

What is it about? Immerse yourself in this thrilling adventure! ›Flow‹ tells the story of a small cat fighting for survival. She lives as a loner in an abandoned house, constantly on the run from dogs. Suddenly, however, a great flood inundates her home. She finds refuge with other animals on a boat. Gathered so closely together, the different species now have to learn to get along despite their differences. - ›Flow‹ lets us experience the pure power of cinema like few other children's films: Bodies in motion, roaming fantastic spaces and worlds. Let yourself be carried away!

Excellent cinema for the whole family: ›Flow‹ was awarded the Oscar for best animated festure film this year!

Past film events 2025

›Shirin's Wedding‹
Director: Helma Sanders-Brahms

March 28, 2025, start: 7 pm
Cinema: Karlstorkino Heidelberg

What is it about? The 1960s in rural Turkey. Shirin has been promised to Mahmud, who now lives in Cologne, since she was a child. But then she is supposed to marry the very administrator who sent her father to prison. Shirin therefore decides to flee to Germany, where she hopes to find her fiancé. When she arrives in Cologne, she is given work in a factory and a place to sleep in a hostel. But when she and many other ‘guest workers’ are dismissed, she also loses her residence permit. It is the beginning of a downward spiral characterised by violent experiences in a country that is hostile to ‘foreigners’.

In reportage-like black and white, director Helma Sanders-Brahms opens up perspectives on milestones of labour migration in the Federal Republic. Told from the perspective of the Turkish protagonist in a way that was groundbreaking at the time, the film arouses compassion for a population group that is still too often ignored in cinema and in life. The dramatic story led to strong emotional reactions and reached an audience of millions.

Past film events 2024

›Schwarzer Zucker, Rotes Blut‹
Director: Luigi Toscano

November 21, 2024, start: 6 pm
Cinema Atlantis, Mannheim

With guests and film talk!

What is it about? SCHWARZER ZUCKER, ROTES BLUT tells the story of Anna Strishkowa from Kyiv. She is a small child when she stands on the Auschwitz ramp on December 4, 1943. She does not know her parents' names, nor where she was born. The Mannheim-based photographer and filmmaker Luigi Toscano met her in Babyn Yar in 2015 as part of his project “Against Forgetting”, and Anna's fate has stayed with him ever since. Luigi's search for traces of her origins takes him from Auschwitz to the Belarusian village of Pronino, to the Potulice-Lebrechtsdorf camp in Poland, to Kyiv and Drohobych in Ukraine, all the way to Unna in North Rhine-Westphalia.

›The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari‹ (1920)
with live film music by Karl Bartos (former Kraftwerk)

October 27, 2024, start: 8 pm
BASF Feierabendhaus, Ludwigshafen

  • Tickets are available via reservix and eventim.

What is it about? A classic of film history in a new, experimental soundtrack: former Kraftwerk musician, composer and author Karl Bartos has set Robert Wiene's 1920 silent film, 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari', to music. Following a sold-out premiere in Frankfurt earlier this year, Karl Bartos is now coming to the metropolitan region in the autumn as part of BASF's 2024 cultural program. The event is a cooperation between the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival and BASF.

›Sound of Metal‹ (2019)
Director: Darius Marder

19 October 2024, start screening: 4 pm
Karlstorkino Heidelberg

  • As part of Enjoy Jazz, we are presenting the musical drama ›Sound of Metal‹ by Darius Marder on 19 October 2024.
  • Language: English with German subtitles

What is it about? Drummer Ruben plays in an avant-garde metal duo with his partner Lou. They are on a live tour through the USA. Suddenly, Ruben discovers that he has severe hearing problems. As these can neither be suppressed nor concealed, he goes to the doctor. To his horror, however, he learns that it is an incurable and rapidly progressing process. Although cochlear implants would help him, he can't afford them and his insurance won't pay for them. He therefore goes to a secluded community where he is supposed to learn to accept his deafness and live with it. However, he finds it difficult to give up his dream of being able to hear again. Whether there really is a way back to his old life remains to be seen. - A moving drama that takes us along with its main character on a journey to a fundamental realisation about human existence.

›Brazil‹ (1985)
Director: Terry Gilliam

27 Sept. 2024, 7 pm
Karlstorkino Heidelberg

  • Kafkaesque cinema: As part of the Kafka and Cinema film series, we are presenting 'Brazil' by Terry Gilliam on 27 September 2024
  • Language: English with German subtitles

What is it about? A world dominated by all-encompassing, Kafkaesque bureaucracy. A totalitarian police state. The environment polluted. People indulge in hyper-consumption. This is where Sam Lowry (Jonathan Price), a lowly government official, lives. He escapes his dull everyday life by fantasising about himself as a mercenary saviour figure. One day, he comes across a serious bureaucratic error that has led to the death of a man named Buttle rather than Archibald Tuttle (Robert de Niro), who was wanted as a terrorist. While dealing with the mistake Sam gets caught between the fronts. The situation escalates. - ›Brazil's‹ cartoon-like, expressive aesthetic and retro-futuristic style, reminiscent of classics such as 'Metropolis' and 'Casablanca', have influenced numerous subsequent filmmakers. A still highly topical film about the limits of escapism.

›Homecoming‹
Director: Catherine Corsini

28 Juli 2024, 21:30 pm
Open Air Cinema at the Völkerkundemuseum Heidelberg

  • As part of our cooperation with the Film Days of the Mediterranean, we are presenting ›Homecoming‹ by Catherine Corsini on 28.07.2024.
  • You can find more information on the website of Karlstorkino Heidelberg HERE.
  • Language: French with German subtitles

What is it about? Every family has its secrets. When Khédidja arrives in Corsica with her two daughters, the rebellious Farah and the level-headed Jessica, it is both a return and a new beginning. They move into a bungalow at a campsite and Khédidja starts working as a nanny for a wealthy Parisian family. Bit by bit, however, things on the vacation island build a momentum of their own and the threesome find themselves entangled in conflicts that are both new and old. The gentle lapping of the sea swells into an emotional rip tide, bringing to the surface pressing questions regarding the family’s biography: what links the father’s untimely death and the small Corsican village where the family lived 15 years ago? ›Homecoming‹ is a confrontation between two generations who are marked by migration and in search of personal memories, experiences and a future of their own making.

Catherine Corsini is a multi-award-winning French director and screenwriter. Her work focuses on female characters. ›Homecoming‹ is now her twelfth feature and premiered 2023 in competition at Cannes.

›Perfect Days‹
Director: Wim Wenders

20 July 2024, 21:45 pm
Open Air Screening at Cinema Quadrat, Mannheim

  • As part of our cooperation with the Summer Open Air Cinema at Cinema Quadrat we are presenting Perfect Days by Wim Wenders on 20.07.2024.
  • You can find more information on the website of Karlstorkino Heidelberg HERE.
  • Language: Japanese with German subtitles

What is it about? Hirayama cleans public toilets in Tokyo. The taciturn elderly gentleman goes about his work with devoted precision and dignity. Living alone in a small apartment, his daily life is regimented like clockwork. During the week, he gets up early, listens to cassettes of English rock music on his drive to work, and reads sophisticated literature in second-hand paperbacks every evening. During his work breaks, he takes photographs. He seems perfectly content with his simple, solitary life. Then, several unexpected encounters bring to light a past that Hirayama seemed to have left behind. - Wim Wenders’ new film is a meditation, as poetic as it is profoundly moving, on the beauty of everyday things and the infinitely winding paths of human life.

In 1968, Wim Wenders showed his short film ›Same Player Shoots Again‹ at the International Film Week Mannheim. In the 1970s he became internationally known as one of the pioneers of New German Cinema. In 2004 he accepted the Master of Cinema Award at the IFFMH.

›Afire‹
Director: Christian Petzold

12 July 2024, 9:30 pm
Open Air Screening at the Mathematikon of the University of Heidelberg

  • Apocalyptic Cinema: As part of our cooperation with the Käte Hamburger Kolleg for Apocalyptic und Postapocalyptic Studies (CAPAS) at Heidelberg University, we will be presenting ›Afire‹ by Christian Petzold.
  • Language: German

What is it about? A summer at the Baltic Sea. It's hot and hasn't rained for weeks. In a vacation home somewhere between the forest and the sea, childhood friends Leon and Felix meet the mysterious Nadja and lifeguard Devid. While Leon is struggling with his second novel, Felix is drafting an application portfolio for the University of the Arts. These are days out of this world. Days full of hope and love, but also full of jealousy, tensions and sensitivities. In the not too far distance forest fires blaze. On both ends, a spark is all it takes for the flames to spread. And in the final moments, nothing is the same as it was before. - Christian Petzold's captivating latest work about the crisis as a possible new beginning was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at the Berlinale 2023.

Christian Petzold is probably the most important German director of the past 25 years. Attributed to the Berlin School, he has long held an exceptional position. For his films such as ›Die innere Sicherheit‹, ›Gespenster‹, ›Barbara‹ or ›Transit‹, he has received numerous awards, including the 2020 Schiller Prize of the City of Mannheim.

›Pacifiction‹
Director: Albert Serra

28 June 2024, 7 pm
Karlstorkino Heidelberg
free entry

  • Apocalyptic Cinema: As part of our cooperation with the Käte Hamburger Kolleg for Apocalyptic und Postapocalyptic Studies (CAPAS) at Heidelberg University, we will be presenting ›Pacifiction‹ by Albert Serra.
  • Language: French with German subtitles

What is it about? More than mere storytelling: those who love cinema for the power of its imagery, sensuality, and dreamlike qualities will find a veritable bounty here. Not since David Lynch’s ›Inland Empire‹ has cinema been brought back to its essence to such an extent: the moving image, the body within it. In ›Pacifiction‹, this is combined – and this for the first time – with sprawling, boundless, voluptuous orgies of dialogue. Benoît Magimel shines in the role of an inscrutable French politician stationed in Tahiti. He looks after things, hears out the population, hurries from meeting to meeting, often in dubious locales. A rumor is circulating that the French will resume nuclear testing, which threatens his authority. But enough said. You need to see this film and its musically dense, haunting atmosphere for yourself. A cinematographic experience!

Director and artist Albert Serra (1975) has so far mainly adapted historical material. His film ›Story of My Death‹ won the Golden Leopard in Locarno in 2013. ›Liberté‹ earned him the Special Jury Award in Cannes in 2019.

›Robot Dreams‹
Director: Pablo Berger

25 May 2024, Cineplex Mannheim
1:30 pm Cinema tour with a look behind the scenes and homemade popcorn
2:00 pm start of screening

  • As part of our cooperation with the Children's Day of the City of Mannheim, IFFMH and Cineplex will be presenting the Oscar nominated animated reature film ›Robot Dreams‹ by Pablo Berger on 25.05.2024.
  • Tickets at a standard price of €5 each (children and adults) are available from the Cineplex.
  • Language: no dialogue

What is it about? New York in the 80s! Life hums, honks and howls in the trendy neighbourhood of the East Village. But Dog is lonely and passes the time watching TV and eating snacks – until he buys himself a robot. Everything is nicer when you’re together, and the summer zips by as if on roller skates. But soon the two have to part ways. Forever? The film, based on a well-known comic book, works perfectly well without dialogues. Its lucid images express themselves through a wealth of tremendous detail and irresistible wit. A story full of twists, a lovingly crafted trip back to the late 20th century and, above all, a moving and delightful homage to the value of friendships.

Pablo Berger, born in Bilbao in 1963, is best known for ›Blancanieves‹ (2012), a silent film in black and white that was selected as Spain’s Oscar entry. ›Robot Dreams‹ is his first animation. It premiered at Cannes, won one of the top prizes at Annecy and was nominated for an Oscar as best animated feature film in 2023.

›Housekeeping for Beginners‹
Director: Goran Stolevski

19 May 2024, 8 pm
Karlstorkino Heidelberg

  • As part of our cooperation with the Queer Festival Heidelberg, we will be presenting ›Housekeeping for Beginners‹ by Goran Stolevski on Sunday, 19.05.2024.
  • Language: Macedonian with German subtitles

What is it about? Dita’s estate is the entirely unusual home of a wildly diverse group of queer people. When Dita’s partner becomes terminally ill, she takes an oath to raise her two daughters. But Dita neither wants to be a mother, nor do the children want to accept her as one. In order to save this patchwork family though, Dita has to go even further – all the way to marrying the only man currently available.
Goran Stolevski’s third feature once again proves his exceptional skills: with speed and relish, he thrusts the viewer right into a community of supposedly incompatible characters. He thus explores the possibility of love and family beyond conventional ideas of gender and relationships. A very contemporary film and a must-see.

With ›You Won’t Be Alone‹, Goran Stolevski, who grew up in Northern Macedonia and lives in Australia, won our 2022 Newcomer Award. In 2023, his second film ›Of an Age‹ is also screening in the section FILMSCAPES. Moreover, we are proud to welcome the successful director as a juror at IFFMH this year.

›Get Out‹
by Jordan Peele

16 March 2024, 8:30 pm
Karlstorkino Heidelberg

  • The screening is part of this year's Weeks against Racism, and will be presented by the IFFMH together with the Intercultural Center Heidelberg on Saturday, 16.03.2024 at 20:30 pm at the Karlstorkino Heidelberg.
  • You can find more information on the website of Karlstorkino Heidelberg HERE.
  • Language: English with German subtitles

What is it about? African-American photographer Chris Washington visits his white girlfriend Rose Armitage's parents on their estate. They present themselves as friendly, liberal and open-minded. But bizarre incidents soon arouse Chris' suspicions. Eventually he discovers a terrible secret that gradually develops into a real nightmare for him. - Director Jordan Peele's debut is a self-confident masterpiece of black cinema. It combines horror with comedy elements in an original way, analyzes the most diverse facets of everyday racism and doesn't hold back with side-swipes at Hollywood.

Its international success and numerous awards, including the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, speak for themselves. And the important cinema magazine "Sight and Sound" even voted this multi-layered work one of the best films of all time.

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