The initial highlights for 2025

From 6 to 16 November, you can once again experience numerous German premieres by young international directing talents and established filmmakers, as well as other film highlights. In this year's ON THE RISE competition, we are presenting films from Germany, the Netherlands, France, Great Britain, Canada and Jordan, among others. Other initial programme highlights include the big Cannes winner ›A Simple Accident‹ by Iranian director Jafar Panahi and the German premiere of ›Renoir‹ by Chie Hayakawa, one of the most important voices in contemporary Japanese cinema.

You can already look forward to these films in competition:
Funeral Casino Blues by Roderick Warich – one of the most outstanding German film productions of the year – a visually impressive genre mix that skilfully shifts between romantic film, ghost story and thriller, shot in Thailand
Surviving Earth by Thea Gajic – the true story of a harmonica player who starts a new life in the United Kingdom after fleeing Yugoslavia
Blue Heron by Sophy Romvari – a sensitive film about childhood and post-migrant experiences in Canada
Sink by Zain Duraie – a touching mother-son story that does not shy away from addressing mental health
›Adam's Sake‹ by Laura Wandel – a gripping social drama about the difficult working conditions in the healthcare sector
›Reedland‹ by Sven Bresser – a crime story with references to film history and, at the same time, an impressive portrait of the Dutch landscape
›LifeHack‹ by Ronan Corrigan – a gripping screenshare cyberheist film from the perspective of Gen-Z!

Our full programme will be published on 17 October.
Advance ticket sales start on 20 October.

Further information on the first film highlights can be found in our press release.