With each new edition of Sehsüchte, we try to think beyond the status quo, adopt new perspectives and create spaces for discussion and exchange. This year, we are going one step further: for the first time, we are offering a residency for feminist film criticism. Together with the feminist film club filmsis*, which was founded at the Babelsberg Film University, we are giving FLINTA* people (women, lesbians, inter, non-binary, trans* and agender people) the opportunity to engage intensively with film criticism from a feminist perspective, to write their own texts and to raise their voices in a criticism landscape that is still heavily dominated by men.
The idea for the residency arose from a simple but pressing question: Who actually talks about films? While there has been an increased emphasis on diversity in film production in recent years, many discourses on what constitutes a ‘good’ film and which films are considered relevant are still dominated by male voices. Yet film criticism is far more than just a personal judgement of a film, it is a cultural practice that reinforces or questions narratives, makes perspectives visible or leaves them invisible. With the filmsis* residency, this is precisely where we want to start and encourage FLINTA* people to engage confidently in this discourse. In keeping with this year’s motto BEYOND, we want to open up new perspectives in film criticism and think beyond existing evaluation patterns.
What is the filmsis* residency?
In a five-day residency during the Sehsüchte Festival from 23.-27. April 2025 in
Potsdam, you will watch films together, discuss them in a group and receive
professional guidance in writing your own reviews. The programme will be led by
experienced film critic and founder of the queer-feminist film magazine Filmlöwin Sophie Charlotte Rieger, who will not only teach you the craft of film criticism, but also help you build your own networks and platforms. Your texts will be published on the Sehsüchte and filmsis* channels after the festival.
Be part of the filmsis* Residency and apply by 9 April 2025!
You are FLINTA+, love films and want to actively shape feminist film criticism?
Then apply now! Send us the following documents to by 9 April 2025:
● A short letter of motivation (max. 1 page): Why do you want to be part of the
residency?
● A few words about yourself (short CV or a description of who you are and what
inspires you)
All information about the residency can be found here (scroll for EN) :