„Back to the Futures - Utopias vs. Dystopias“

What does the future hold? And how can we shape it ourselves? Hardly any other art form poses this question as persistently as cinema. Since its inception, it has been conjuring up visions of what is to come, exploring human hopes and fears, and bringing to light what would otherwise elude our imagination. To mark the 75th anniversary of our festival, which takes place from 5 to 15 November under the motto ‘Imagine Futures!’, we are dedicating this year’s retrospective to this unique power of cinematic imagination. Entitled ‘Back to the Futures – Utopias vs. Dystopias’, it brings together historical visions of the future. We have selected a total of 12 films for you, spanning the years 1956 to 2023. What all these films have in common is that utopia and dystopia often prove to be two sides of the same coin.

The 2026 Retrospective “Back to the Futures – Utopias vs. Dystopias”

›A Man Escaped‹ directed by Robert Bresson, France, 1956
›2001: A Space Odyssey‹ directed by Stanley Kubrick, UK, USA, 1968
›Invasión‹ directed by Hugo Santiago, Argentina, 1969
›Touki Bouki‹ directed by Djibril Diop Mambéty, Senegal, 1973
›Stalker‹ directed by Andrei Tarkovsky, USSR, 1979
›Born in Flames‹ directed by Lizzie Borden, USA, 1983
›Groundhog Day‹ directed by Harold Ramis, USA, 1993
›Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind‹ directed by Michel Gondry, USA, 2004
›Her‹ directed by Spike Jonze, USA, 2013
›Under the Skin‹ directed by Jonathan Glazer, UK, Schweiz, 2013
›Mountains May Depart‹ directed by Jia Zhang-ke, China, France, Japan, 2015
›The Beast‹ directed by Bertrand Bonello, France, 2023

The 75th IFFMH will be held from 5 to 15 November 2026.
The complete schedule for the 75th IFFMH will be announced on 16 October. Tickets will go on sale on 19 October.

You can find further information about our retrospective in our press release.