In der Luft, da bleibt Deine Wurzel

The documentary In der Luft, da bleibt Deine Wurzel follows Holocaust survivor Eva Szepesi. She and her family embark on an emotional search for clues. The film sensitively shows trauma that manifests itself in a family over generations. After the film, Eva Szepesi, who was recently a guest in the german Bundestag, and the director Mario Morales will be present for a discussion with the audience.

OPENING FILM: Shahid

The award-winning hybrid film by director Narges Kalhor begins with a question: how can Narges, who was born in Iran, get rid of her middle name Shahid? Shahid means something like martyr, and she doesn't want anything to do with the sanguinary idea of a martyr’s death. And she definitely does not want to carry that in her name. The film explores Narges’ family history and its entanglement with the history of Iran.

Shahid

The award-winning hybrid film by director Narges Kalhor begins with a question: how can Narges, who was born in Iran, get rid of her middle name Shahid? Shahid means something like martyr, and she doesn't want anything to do with the sanguinary idea of a martyr’s death. And she definitely does not want to carry that in her name. The film explores Narges’ family history and its entanglement with the history of Iran.

Eines Vaters Liebe

What does emotional suppression, drama and speechlessness do to a family? Director Leon Noel Schardt films himself on a journey of discovery to the roots of his family and his depression. Little by little it becomes evident how father-son relationships of several generations have shaped his own image of masculinity and emotions.

Exile never ends

Because of a threat of deportation after serving his prison sentence, Taner applies for an early transfer to Turkey. How does that affect his parents and siblings, who came to Germany as Kurdish-Alvi refugees 30 years ago? And what prospects await Taner in Turkey? Exile never ends is an impressive and intimate portrait of director Bahar Bektaş’ family that tells the story of an ongoing uprooting.

Regional short films I

Frankfurt, Kassel, Mainz, Offenbach, Wiesbaden - aspiring and established filmmakers from all over Hesse and the Rhine-Main area compete in the regional short film competition to take home the coveted LICHTER-Bembel and 1,000 euros in prize money. Come celebrate short films with us through three programmes filled with masterful cinema.

Frank Meyer

Learning to love through cinema, in this case: Frank Meyer. The documentary follows the former bodybuilder for over ten years.He had already survived one stroke then.. At the start of filming, he prefers to operate the camera himself. But eventually, the young filmmakers emancipate themselves from Frank Meyer's instructions and thus give him and the audience a gift: he gets to understand himself better and becomes more capable of questioning his armored masculinity.

Looking for Action in Hessen, Germany

Director Linus de Paoli and film maker Johannes Thomsen go on a cinematographic research journey through Hessen and map the world in moving images. They want to prove that you can find cinematic images with the simplest tools at the most unexpected locations with an 8 mm camera. Following the analogue projection, we are pleased about the insights into the work of film historian and archivist Christoph Draxtra. Researcher Klára Feikusová provides a theoretic perspective on the convergence of cinema and television.

Shahid

The award-winning hybrid film by director Narges Kalhor begins with a question: how can Narges, who was born in Iran, get rid of her middle name Shahid? Shahid means something like martyr, and she doesn't want anything to do with the sanguinary idea of a martyr’s death. And she definitely does not want to carry that in her name. The film explores Narges’ family history and its entanglement with the history of Iran.

Gotteskinder

In Hannah’s life, the rules of everyday life and growing up are dictated by the evangelical community to which the family belongs. Her supposedly perfect world begins to crack when Max moves into the neighbourhood, to whom she feels drawn to and who makes her question her faith. After Hannah’s brother Timo also has conflicts of his conscience with the evangelical community’s views, the situation escalates.

Regional short films II

Frankfurt, Kassel, Mainz, Offenbach, Wiesbaden - aspiring and established filmmakers from all over Hesse and the Rhine-Main area compete in the regional short film competition to take home the coveted LICHTER-Bembel and 1,000 euros in prize money. Come celebrate short films with us through three programmes filled with masterful cinema.

Ellbogen

In Berlin Wedding, we meet 18-year-old Hazal – including all her contradictions and raging. The film adaption of Fatma Aydemir’s debut novel was enthusiastically celebrated at the Berlinale: Ellbogen shows us the story of a young woman cast out by society. She has to flee to Istanbul to redefine her life. You want to run with her through the night, you want to know what will happen to her and to all of us.

Regional short films III

Frankfurt, Kassel, Mainz, Offenbach, Wiesbaden - aspiring and established filmmakers from all over Hesse and the Rhine-Main area compete in the regional short film competition to take home the coveted LICHTER-Bembel and 1,000 euros in prize money. Come celebrate short films with us through three programmes filled with masterful cinema.

Ihre ergebenste Fräulein

Often overlooked in history, rarely considered in societal questions: the female perspective. In the essay film Well Ordered Nature, letters and monographies from botanist and teacher Catharina Helena Dörrien, who comes from the 18th century central-Hessian Dillenburg, are read aloud. In discourse with contemporary lawmaking of the aristocracy, an inconspicuous and yet direct critique of the supposedly progressive male sovereignty arises.

Von dem, was bleibt

In 1944, remaining traces of Johanna’s great-grandfather were lost in what is now known as Moldova, where he presumably passed away. The circumstances under which he passed are still unknown to his family. Equipped with her great-grandfather’s letters from the front, Johanna Groß attempts to find out more about her great-grandfather’s fate in her documentary and shows how the loss of a husband, father and grandfather affected the different generations of her family.

Nathan Farb and the Cold War

New York photographer Nathan Farb pulled off a real coup in 1977: he took portraits of numerous people in Soviet Novosibirsk with his camera and smuggled his negatives through the Iron Curtain in a diplomatic pouch. The photographs went around the world. Some of them hang in the MOMA today. For the documentary, he once again embarks on a journey to Siberia, this time together with Frankfurt's Kinobrigada heroes Nathaniel Knop and Peter Rippl, carrying photo and film cameras.

Max und die Wilde 7 ‒ Die Geister-Oma

Attention young film fans! Max und die Wilde 7 have a new case! After a very successful first part, the second adventure of the unlikely friends follows. The team gets to the bottom of topics such as courage and fear in a humorous and almost casual way. And the best thing: the location of the world premiere is none other than the LICHTER Film Festival. As befits a real premiere, we roll out the red carpet and warmly welcome not only you, but the cast as well!