April

As APRIL begins, we follow a young woman running errands in a West German city. She soon vanishes. We follow other characters going about their own business. Just as one group is parting ways, a new one meets up. They walk, shop, read, argue, talk and get drunk. Meanwhile an image of urban architecture slowly emerges in the background. A day goes by, leaving the impression that there is something which ties together these different meetings and people.

Credits

Cast:

Maya Marx

Noah Friebel

Annabelle Agbo Godeau

Ja Jess

Lukas Mogwitz

Judith Shyambala Heinemann

Jihye Rhii

Juhee Kim

Sarah Doolan

Ulfur Logason

Alyce Ford

Lukas Langguth

Script:

Paula Allhorn

Camera:

Aryan Salazar Volkmann

Editing:

Paula Allhorn

Producer:

Paula Allhorn

Sound:

Jorge Hermann Loureiro

Tondesign:

Niklas Kammertöns

Tonmischung:

Lorenz Fischer

Grading:

Sergi Sanchez Rodriguez

Film info

Direction:

Paula Allhorn

Genre:

Kurzfilm

Country of production:

Germany

Production Company:

Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin

Production:

2024

Shooting format:

Digital

Screening format:

1:1,85

Frame rate:

25 fps

Aspect ratio:

1:1,85

Sound format:

5.1

Language:

French, German, English, Korean with German and English subtitles

Version:

OmU

Runtime:

15 min

Stray Cats

Twelve-year-old Elena spends a languid summer with her grandparents in the South Italian countryside. Surrounded by boredom, her only solace is Chiara, a neighbour of her own age. When the two girls save a kitten from a group of local boys, their relationship begins to shift as their summer together comes towards its end.

Credits

Cast:

Francesca Lotito – Elena

Maria Giulia Lorusso – Chiara

Maria Alba Triglione – Nonna

Antonio Sgaramella – Nonno

Script:

Florinda Frisardi

Camera:

Jesse Mazuch

Editing:

Florinda Frisardi

Producer:

Daria Wichmann

Florinda Frisardi

Sound:

Gregory Oke

Music:

Emanuele Orsini

Film info

Direction:

Florinda Frisardi

Genre:

Kurzfilm

Country of production:

Germany

Production Company:

Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin

Production:

2025

Shooting format:

Digital

Screening format:

1:1,85

Frame rate:

24 fps

Aspect ratio:

1:1,85

Sound format:

5.1

Language:

Italian with English or German subtitles

Version:

OmU

Runtime:

27.51 min

Erogenesis

In the aftermath of a mysterious disaster, the few humans left find themselves unable to reproduce the species. All hope lies in the hands of five women who have developed the technology to create human life outside the body. But the researchers cannot reach an agreement on how and if to release it. In the absence of consensus, they immerse themselves in the study of pleasure.

Credits

Cast:

Valerie Renay – Dr. Kollontai

Yuko Kaseki – Dr. Enoki

Estelle Widmaier – Dr. Lavigne

Greta Markurt – Dr. Grau

Sasha Deckinger – Dr. Ionescu

Cécile Perrot – Tom

Helene Albrecht – Reverend Alice

Leo Silva – Greek God

Masuod Hossaini – Greek God

Till Sandkühler – Greek God

Johannes Weinbacher – Greek God

Daniel Alonso Fuentealba Pinilla – Greek God

Xandra Popescu – Erzählerin

Script:

Xandra Popescu

Clara Puhlmann

Camera:

Maayane Bouhnik

Editing:

Vanessa Heeger

Producer:

Clara Puhlmann

Sound:

Alan Mares

Tondesign:

Florentin Tudor

Music:

Florentin Tudor

Film info

Direction:

Xandra Popescu

Genre:

Kurzfilm

Country of production:

Germany

Production Company:

DFFB in Koproduktion mit Angst Film & Hello Trouble mit Koproduzentinnen Clara Puhlmann & Xandra Popescu

Production:

2025

Shooting format:

16mm

Screening format:

1:1,85

Frame rate:

24 fps

Aspect ratio:

1:1,85

Sound format:

5.1

Language:

English with German, English or French subtitles

Version:

OmU

Runtime:

14.50 min

woman/mOther

Mara, a young dance teacher, wants to express the isolation she experienced during motherhood. She plans to stage a performance in the treetops. Then Mara learns that she is pregnant again.

Credits

Cast:

Mara Turner – Mara

Script:

Klara Harden

Camera:

Klara Harden

Editing:

Clara Andres

Producer:

Daniel Haingartner

Klara Harden

Sound:

Daniel Haingartner

Klara Harden

Music:

Valtteri Pöyhönen

Film info

Direction:

Klara Harden

Genre:

documentary

Country of production:

Germany

Production Company:

Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin gefördert vom Land Steiermark / BMKÖS

Production:

2024

Shooting format:

Digital

Screening format:

16:9

Frame rate:

25 fps

Aspect ratio:

16:9

Sound format:

5.1

Language:

German, English with German and English subtitles

Version:

OV

Runtime:

91 min

A Jewish Problem

Between 2007 and 2010, Ron served as a military cameraman in Israel. Watching his footage of violent arrests and shootings in Gaza, it is difficult to draw a connection between Palestine 16 years ago and today’s comparatively peaceful Berlin. Yet, through his personal family history, Ron seems to bridge these two worlds. His grandmother, Ruth, fled Nazi Germany as a child, only to later become a soldier in the army that conquered Palestine. Decades later, Ron, shaped by his own experiences in the Israeli military, chose to leave Israel and return to Berlin. This film explores the German-Palestinian-Jewish triangle in Berlin from an intimate perspective. Through a personal family story, it traces key events of the so-called "Middle East conflict": the mass persecution and displacement of Jews during the Holocaust, the founding of Israel, the subsequent Nakba (the displacement of Palestinians), decades of war and occupation, and finally, the migration of both Israelis and Palestinians to Berlin.

Credits

Cast:

Ron Rothschild – Voiceover

Ruth Rothschild – Interview

Script:

Ron Rothschild

Camera:

Ron Rothschild

Julien Mayer

Fion Mutert

Masha Biller

Sina Aghazadeh

Editing:

Astrid Hohle Hansen

Producer:

Yusuf Çelik

Antonia Schöndienst

Music:

Georg Mausolf

Film info

Direction:

Ron Rothschild

Genre:

documentary

Country of production:

Germany

Production Company:

Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin

Production:

2025

Shooting format:

Digital

Screening format:

4:3

Frame rate:

25 fps

Aspect ratio:

4:3

Sound format:

5.1

Language:

English, German and Hebrew with English and German subtitles

Version:

OmU

Runtime:

79 min

Torn Sky

Based on true events and interviews with eyewitnesses, the film tells the individual fates of people during a catastrophic flood. In the chaos, a belief in a miracle awakens.

Credits

Cast:

Néo Minten

Lucine Boumegoura

Script:

Jozefien Van der Aelst

Camera:

Edoardo Scussel

Editing:

Thomas de La Taille

Jozefien Van der Aelst

Producer:

Walt Bladt

Daniel Ruprech

Tondesign:

Brian Mullany

Film info

Direction:

Jozefien Van der Aelst

Genre:

Kurzfilm

Country of production:

Germany

Production Company:

Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin

Production:

2025

Shooting format:

Digital

Screening format:

1:1,85

Frame rate:

25 fps

Aspect ratio:

1:1,85

Sound format:

5.1

Language:

French with German and English subtitles

Version:

OmU

Runtime:

22 min

In the Darkened Rooms

As the sun sets and night falls٫ a train traveling through the forest reaches the city. A young woman named Lilith٫ who has come with the train٫ breaks into a house where a married couple live. They don’t notice her presence as they are sleeping. Lilith is not there to steal anything٫ but she wants to remember a house she was in long ago. She observes the house and moves inside it in the darkness of night as if she knows it. She begins to dance in front of a painting resembling Adam and Eve. When she dances٫ the woman sleeping begins to feel pain in her stomach٫ but they don’t wake up despite this pain. The dance intensifies٫ and the pain does too. The morning is almost there when Lilith stops the dance. She is out of breath and has to leave. The streets are empty٫ and we don’t hear anything but just Lilith’s breath. When she is gone٫ the woman wakes up and doesn’t feel the pain anymore٫ but the man covered in blood is dead. With the first gleam of the day٫ the empty train leaves for the next city but the sound of this unknown traveler’s breath stays in each corner of this city.

Credits

Cast:

Linda Elsner – Lilith

Ulrike Zachhuber – Eva

Niels Bormann – Adam

Script:

Sina Aghazadeh

Camera:

Dorothea Pilz

Editing:

Sina Aghazadeh

Producer:

Yusuf Çelik

Djuna Delker

Sound:

Rhys J. Anderson

Tondesign:

Christian Obermaier

Film info

Direction:

Sina Aghazadeh

Genre:

Kurzfilm

Country of production:

Germany

Production Company:

Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin

Production:

2024

Shooting format:

16mm

Screening format:

16:9

Frame rate:

25 fps

Aspect ratio:

16:9

Sound format:

5.1

Language:

no dialog

Version:

OV

Runtime:

14.48 min

The Good Sister

Rose has a close bond with her much loved older brother Sam. When a woman accuses Sam of rape, Rose is asked to testify in an investigation against him. This is a test for both their relationship and her moral integrity.

Credits

Cast:

Marie Bloching – Rose

Anton Weil – Samuel

Proschat Madani – Linda

Laura Balzer – Elisa

Jane Chirwa – Lia

Aram Tafreshian – Detective

David Vormweg – Date

Franziska von Harsdorf – Jazz

Julie Savery – Julie

Script:

Sarah Miro Fischer

Agnes Maagaard

Camera:

Selma von Polheim Gravesen

Editing:

Elena Weihe

Producer:

Janna Fodor

Nina Sophie Bayer-Seel

Sound:

Alex Feldman

Tondesign:

Jakob Mäsel

Tonmeister:

Lorenz Fischer

Music:

Francesco Lo Giudice

Grading:

Dirk Meier

Szenenbild:

Alina Iman Dunker

Kostüm (Credit):

Polina Shpazhnikova

Maske:

Elliot de Jahnsen

Casting:

Berti Cammineci

Film info

Direction:

Sarah Miro Fischer

Genre:

fictional

Country of production:

Germany, Spain

Production Company:

Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie in Koproduktion mit Arkanum Pictures, Nephilim Producciones, RBB, gefördert von der Initiative Leuchtstoffe vom Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg und RBB Gap Financing von der Young Talent Foundation Berlin

Production:

2025

Shooting format:

Digital

Screening format:

2:1

Frame rate:

25 fps

Aspect ratio:

2:1

Sound format:

5.1

Language:

German with English subtitles

Version:

OmU

Runtime:

96 min

A Body’s Melody

Everyday life has become difficult for Nalan who has recently been struggling with unexplained blackouts. Her body’s symptoms force her to take a closer look at herself and her surroundings. As she undergoes medical examination, her body takes her on its own journey. She uncovers unknown territory when she delves deeper into these states of unconsciousness. Has she lost touch with an inner voice demanding to be heard?

Credits

Cast:

Tümay Kılınçel – Nalan

Corinna Bergmann – Doctor

Andre Ebert – Nurse

Script:

Edda Reimann

Camera:

Magoo Sophie Meyer

Editing:

Celine Jünger

Producer:

Maria Jansen

Tondesign:

Larissa Kirschk

Film info

Direction:

Edda Reimann

Genre:

Kurzfilm

Country of production:

Germany

Production Company:

Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin

Production:

2024

Shooting format:

Digital

Screening format:

16:9

Frame rate:

25 fps

Aspect ratio:

16:9

Sound format:

Dolby 5.1

Language:

German, English with German and English subtitles

Version:

OmU

Runtime:

16.16 min