As accompaniment, the Festival presents the current highlights of the German film scene. More than one Berlinale-Highlight are to be seen in the programme: In den Gängen by Thomas Stuber won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury and the Guild Film Prize not long ago. In the film, the forklift driver Christian falls for his colleague Marion at a wholesale market. Celebrated by critics as well is Transit. In this competition entry by Christian Petzold, today’s Marseille is setting for a story of refugees in the time of National Socialism. In both films, Franz Rogowski plays the protagonist.

“This film series once more proves that not only internal ‘enfant terribles’ such as Christian Petzold find new ways of storytelling. The filmic visions of up-and-coming directors are so varied, it is a real joy following their development”, says Schubert. Two prime examples for that are the documentary Aggregat and the Drama Rückenwind von vorn around a young teacher stuck in a quarter life-crisis. Almost fully improvised, the acting of the performers in the film of Philipp Eichholtz is riddled with unpredictability. A neutral and yet insightful perspective is taken on by Marie Wilke in Aggregat. The director followed the debates of politicians, Pegida-followers and journalists on the refugee crisis and right-wing populism in Germany for two years.

Pub Cinema At LICHTER

“That the young German film in the cinema lacks visibility is not a new phenomenon. It wasn’t different in the 1960’s. Because they could not find distributors, Edgar Reitz and Ula Stöckl simply grabbed a projector and showed their films in pubs.”, says Johanna Süß, deputy festival director. At LICHTER there will be a Remake of this pub cinema. At the Mal Seh’n Kino, the audience can choose from an á la carte selection of 22 episodes of the short film series Geschichten vom Kübelkind (Stories of the Dumpster Kid) in attendance of Edgar Reitz.

Two musical documentaries are included in the film series as well. The punk-rock band Feine Sahne Fischfilet is known not only for their music, but also for their commitment against right-ring radicalism. In Wildes Herz (Wild Heart), director Charly Hübner documents the musician’s efforts of not letting their home in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania succumb to the brown nationalist sludge. In Shut Up and Play the Piano, Philip Jedicke offers insight into the musical work of Chilly Gonzales between Classical, Electronic, Pop and Jazz and the personality behind the artist.