Four days of a full film program – it can be quite difficult to choose. Our team members have looked through the entire program and give us an insight into which cinematic gems have particularly touched, stirred and surprised them. Let yourself be inspired by this small selection of personal recommendations and discover your new favorite film from the Sehsüchte program.

Anna

I like films that embrace strong visuals and mix unusual elements to create emotion. That’s why the two documentaries Liminal Space: Diving Within and Dang Wo Wang Xiang Ni De Shi Hou / Will You Look At Me are two of my favorites. Sometimes, however, a very charming main character is enough to win my heart for good, as in the documentary Angelique.

Liminal Space: Diving Within

Germany | 2022 | Documentary Short | 22 Min. | Farsi

Das Verarbeiten von Verlust ist komplex, umso mehr für die Filmemacherin Anahita, deren Identität nah an die ihres Vaters gekoppelt ist. In einem Versuch, Tod zu verstehen und sich sich selbst wieder anzunähern, begibt sich Anahita in Liminal Space auf eine experimentelle Expedition zu sich selbst.
DirectorAnahita Safarnejad ChoobaryProducerTinett Marie Kähler
Running for:Best Documentary FilmOutstanding Artistic Achievement in a Documentary Film

Screenings:

Dang wo wang xiang ni de shi hou / Will You Look At Me

China | 2022 | Documentary Short | 20 Min. | Chinese (English Subtitles)

An intimate and personal look into the life of a young man returning to his hometown. In conversations with his mother, painful differences emerge in their views on love, family and togetherness.
DirectorShuli Huang
Running for:Best Documentary FilmOutstanding Artistic Achievement in a Documentary Film

Screenings:

Content WarningContains mentions/depictions of:Homophobia

Angelique

Germany | 2022 | Documentary Short | 27 Min. | German (English Subtitles)

This powerful portrait takes a look at the impressive life of 70-year-old Angelique Nagel and how she found her way to her true self against all odds. A strong-willed, courageous woman who had to fight to make a living.
DirectorElisabeth Kratzer
Running for:Best Documentary FilmOutstanding Artistic Achievement in a Documentary Film

Screenings:

Philipp

I love films that test the limits of the medium and try new things – both in terms of content and form. Thematically, I’m particularly interested in films that expose and criticize existing social structures. I therefore particularly recommend: Why Does Helen Koch Commit Serious Vehicle Theft? – a film that goes against narrative and social conventions and finds its very own narrative style. La Herida Luminosa: Here the boundaries between film and poetry blur. These sun-drenched images are hard to get out of one’s head. And Juice: An unconventional little animated film that draws a wonderfully repulsive world and leaves a lot of room for interpretation.

Warum begeht Helen Koch schweren Kraftwagendiebstahl? / Why does Helen Koch commit serious vehicle theft?

Germany | 2022 | Short Film | 22 Min. | German (English Subtitles)

After a conflict between teacher Helen Koch and problem student Mia, they set out together to break away from their hated social roles. What follows is a cross-genre excursion through Berlin that turns social and narrative structures upside down.
DirectorMoritz GeiserProducerMilena MichalekScreenplayMoritz Geiser
Running for:Best Fiction FilmOutstanding Artistic Achievement in a Fiction Film

Screenings:

Content WarningContains mentions/depictions of:Explicit violence

La herida luminosa / Daydreaming so vividly about our Spanish holidays

Spain | 2022 | Short Film | 24 Min. | English, Spanish (English Subtitles)

A sun-starved teenager leaves his home in search of light and warmth. On the Balearic Islands, he tries to soak up the rays and bring them back to his bleak homeland of Great Britain. Hypnotised, he falls prey to the sun.
DirectorChristian AvilésProducerNica FazioScreenplayChristian Avilés
Running for:Best Fiction FilmOutstanding Artistic Achievement in a Fiction Film

Screenings:

Content WarningContains mentions/depictions of:Implied suicide

Saft / Juice

Germany | 2022 | Animated Film | 5 Min. | Without Dialogue

In a dark and clammy space, round creatures comradely moisten each other. However, their shared bliss is disturbed by bugs time and time again. Only after the creatures squash them, does the bugs' contribution to the community become apparent.
DirectorMona KeilProducerIsabella BraunScreenplayMona KeilLion Durst
Running for:Best Animated Film

Screenings:

Arman

Greek mythology says “Gnothi seauton” – Know thyself! The themes of self-knowledge and self-acceptance are an important part of the film language. My spotlights from the program are unique attempts at self-knowledge that can evoke deep reflection in viewers.

Angelique

Germany | 2022 | Documentary Short | 27 Min. | German (English Subtitles)

This powerful portrait takes a look at the impressive life of 70-year-old Angelique Nagel and how she found her way to her true self against all odds. A strong-willed, courageous woman who had to fight to make a living.
DirectorElisabeth Kratzer
Running for:Best Documentary FilmOutstanding Artistic Achievement in a Documentary Film

Screenings:

Filho

Netherlands, Portugal | 2022 | Documentary Short | 22 Min. | Portuguese, Dutch, English (English Subtitles)

Actually, Tomas knows his parents. Born in Brazil in 1993 and adopted from there, he now lives with them in the Netherlands. Now he is faced with the question of whether he should look for his biological mother, or if there are reasons not to do so.
DirectorTomas PonsteenProducersRobijn BoekelmanMyrthe LaarakkerRoosje Vermeulen
Running for:Best Documentary FilmOutstanding Artistic Achievement in a Documentary Film

Screenings:

Elaha

Germany | 2023 | Feature Film | 111 Min. | German, Kurdish (English Subtitles)

The 22-year-old Elaha is about to marry her fiancé. Due to the upcoming wedding, the topic of her supposed "innocence" becomes the subject of scrutiny. She lost it before the wedding and is now trying to regain it by all means.
DirectorMilena AboyanProducersMatthias GrevingKirsten LukaczikEmina SmajićJanina Sara HennemannScreenplayMilena AboyanConstantin Hatz
Running for:Best Fiction FilmOutstanding Artistic Achievement in a Fiction Film

Screenings:

Content WarningContains mentions/depictions of:Implied suicide
Sexual abuse

Calista

When I watch movies, beautiful landscape images in particular stick in my head (think: Star Wars, but all the shots are Luke looking up at Tattooine in the sky). I like movies that are poetic, childlike, dramatic and/or humorous; family stories and movies that manage to tell engaging stories without sacrificing lightness. Films that you must have seen at Sehsüchte are:

Chimborazo

Spain | 2022 | Animated Film | 7 Min. | Without Dialogue

The people of the volcano Chimborazo hike for hours to gather nearby ice. This age-old tradition and the population’s livelihood is threatened by increasing climate change.
DirectorKeila Cepeda SatánProducersDaniel Barrachina EscalpesTatiana Santiago SollaScreenplayDaniel Barrachina EscalpésKeila Cepeda SatánTina Piñero DíazÁngel Povedano RuizTatiana Santiago SollaFelix Uzurrunzaga Loche
Running for:Best Animated Film

Screenings:

Aralkum

Germany, Uzbekistan | 2022 | Documentary Short | 14 Min. | Kazakh (English Subtitles)

Where once man coexisted with a vibrant nature at the Aral Sea, today there is only desert. Aralkum combines past and present in an experimental portrait.
DirectorsMila ZhluktenkoDaniel Asadi FaeziProducersMila ZhluktenkoDaniel Asadi FaeziScreenplayMila ZhluktenkoDaniel Asadi Faezi
Running for:Best Documentary FilmOutstanding Artistic Achievement in a Documentary Film

Screenings:

Family Toast

South Korea | 2022 | Short Film | 14 Min. | Korean (English Subtitles)

When a mother discovers her daughter with a cigarette, the father suspects that it is no ordinary cigarette. The seemingly harmonious and orderly family life threatens to fall apart.
DirectorJunhyung KIMProducerHyungwoo KIMScreenplayJunhyung KIM
Running for:Best Fiction FilmBest Genre FilmOutstanding Artistic Achievement in a Fiction Film

Screenings:

Amal

Movies should move me and reveal a new worldview. I like to be emotionally challenged, surprised or made to laugh when I least expect it. My favorite thing about a film is being able to be angry along with it: Anger connects and with it change begins.

For me, it’s not only the result you can marvel at on the screen that counts, but also with appreciation for the work and the team behind it.

ISTINA (Wahrheit)

Germany, Serbia | 2023 | Short Film | 29 Min. | Serbian (English Subtitles)

Jelena is a photojournalist for an investigative newsroom in Belgrade, Serbia. She courageously documents critical protests, risking her life in the process. After an attack, she decides to go to Germany with her daughter Lara. In her new home, however, she also encounters fierce resistance and violence.
DirectorTamara DenicProducerChristian SiéeScreenplayDavid Lorenz
Running for:Best Production

Screenings:

Content WarningContains mentions/depictions of:Violence

Korruption auf Erden / Corruption on Earth

Germany | 2022 | Short Film | 12 Min. | German (English Subtitles)

Corruption on Earth is a satire about the inhumane regime in Iran. At a fictional award ceremony for the "Best Regime in the World", the regime is honoured for its political deeds. The cinematic footage is mixed with real cell phone footage of the current Iran protests.
DirectorOmid MirnourProducersDimitri HempelOmid MirnourGregor MöllersScreenplayOmid Mirnour
Running for:Best Fiction FilmBest Genre FilmOutstanding Artistic Achievement in a Fiction Film

Screenings:

Content WarningContains mentions/depictions of:Explicit violence

Drei Frauen / Three Women

Germany | 2022 | Documentary Feature | 85 Min. | Ukrainian (English Subtitles)

Maria, a postwoman, Nelya, a biologist, and Hanna, a farmer, live in Stushytsia, Ukraine, near the border to Poland and Slovakia. This documentary portrays not only a foreign "cold place," but also three women who gradually seem to thaw and open up.
DirectorMaksym MelnykProducerMaksym Melnyk
Running for:Best Production

Screenings:

Luca

I love films that take their time. Time to tell an unknown, new world or to examine old familiar standards. Thematically, they can depict ordinary everyday life or extraordinary feelings in an extreme and abstract way – such films always impress me.

La herida luminosa / Daydreaming so vividly about our Spanish holidays

Spain | 2022 | Short Film | 24 Min. | English, Spanish (English Subtitles)

A sun-starved teenager leaves his home in search of light and warmth. On the Balearic Islands, he tries to soak up the rays and bring them back to his bleak homeland of Great Britain. Hypnotised, he falls prey to the sun.
DirectorChristian AvilésProducerNica FazioScreenplayChristian Avilés
Running for:Best Fiction FilmOutstanding Artistic Achievement in a Fiction Film

Screenings:

Content WarningContains mentions/depictions of:Implied suicide

Sierra

Estonia | 2022 | Animated Film | 16 Min. | Without Dialogue

Father and son take part in the local car race. In order to bring home the victory, however, the son must become a car tire himself. This animated film transports us into the surreal world of car racing and parental expectations.
DirectorSander JoonProducersErik HeinsaluAurelia AasaScreenplaySander Joon
Running for:Best Animated Film

Screenings:

Content WarningContains mentions/depictions of:implied suicide

SONNENSTUBE

Italy | 2022 | Documentary Short | 8 Min. | Without Dialogue

Sergio Cortesi has dedicated his life to recording the sun. The film makes use of existing archival footage and provides insights into his work.
DirectorDavide PalellaProducerSebastian Petri
Running for:Best Documentary FilmOutstanding Artistic Achievement in a Documentary Film

Screenings: