Grand Opening of the 75th IFFMH

A sold-out theater and a theme that looks to the future: Under this year’s festival slogan, “Imagine Futures!”, we celebrated the opening of the 75th edition of our festival last night at the Cineplex Mannheim together with many guests from the worlds of culture, politics, and business.

Our opening film, ›My Notes on Mars‹, also perfectly embodied our festival theme. In her English-language debut, Hungarian director Lili Horvát—who attended the opening alongside her producer Dóra Csernátony and actors Ed Cantu and Elisabeth Lande—tells a story that blends romance and science fiction about a couple who lose each other and may eventually find their way back to one another. Those who were unable to attend Opening Night will have two more opportunities to see the opening film: On November 6, it will screen at the Luxor Filmpalast in Heidelberg, and on November 12, it will screen again at the Cineplex in Mannheim.
 
On the occasion of our anniversary edition, we were also delighted to feature a keynote address by the renowned journalist and publicist Prof. Dr. Heribert Prantl. He emphasized the necessity of a resilient democracy in times of right-wing threats and invoked the forward-looking and unifying power of hope. Culture creates places where change begins. The decisive moment is always now, is always here - especially at the film festival.