Films
Opening Night Film
Opening Night Film
Das schweigende Klassenzimmer
Australian Premiere
Drama
Based on 1956 true events and from acclaimed director Lars Kraume, a group of East German high school students stage a silent protest with far-reaching consequences.
Special Event
Special Event
Licht
Australian Premiere
Drama
An enthralling account of the life of a blind pianist whose partially restored sight witnessed a loss in her musicality.
Closing Night
Closing Night
Der Himmel über Berlin
Fantasy / Drama
A visionary classic of German cinema that still resonates today, Wim Wenders’ 1987 drama follows two angels perched high above Berlin who listen to the thoughts of the mortals below.
Short Films
Short Films
Australian Premiere
Now in its 13th edition, Short Export presents six outstanding new short films from Germany, ranging from documentary to animation to experimental fiction.
Contemporary Selection
Contemporary Selection
Australian Premiere
Drama
Nominated for the Crystal Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, this story of young romance follows two university students on a road trip across Europe.
Contemporary Selection
Vielmachglas
Australian Premiere
Comedy
A recent box office hit in Germany, this uplifting comedy stars Jella Haase as a directionless young woman who is given an empty jar and told to fill it with adventures.
Contemporary Selection
Australian Premiere
Drama / Comedy
In this witty dark comedy, two people who think that their life is not worth living anymore form a life-changing friendship in Amsterdam after a chance encounter.
Contemporary Selection
Die Vierhändige
Australian Premiere
Psychological Thriller
Two sisters grow up haunted by a terrible crime they witness, but when one passes away the other begins to suspect she’s being possessed in this twisting thriller.
Contemporary Selection
Australian Premiere
Drama / Mystery
Vicky Krieps, breakout star of Phantom Thread and Frederic Lau star in this atmospheric mystery about an outsider who arrives in a small Luxemburg town that is hiding a dark secret.
Contemporary Selection
Hannas schlafende Hunde
Australian Premiere
Drama
Based on a semi-autobiographical novel by Elisabeth Escher, a 9-year-old girl raised Catholic in a 1960s provincial Austrian town discovers that she is actually Jewish.
Contemporary Selection
Das kalte Herz
Australian Premiere
Fantasy
A dark fairy-tale set in a rural community in the Black Forest where a poor charcoal-burner (Frederik Lau, Victoria) makes a terrible deal in order to marry his beloved.
Contemporary Selection
In Zeiten des abnehmenden Lichts
Australian Premiere
Drama
A birthday gathering is memorable for all the wrong reasons in this historical tragicomedy, as an East German family attempts to celebrate their Communist patriarch on the eve of the Berlin Wall’s collapse.
Contemporary Selection
Simpel
Australian Premiere
Comedy / Drama
After their mother dies, Ben and his younger 22-year old brother Barnabas who has an intellectual disability set out to find their father, in this touching drama based on the French bestseller.
Contemporary Selection
Paula - Mein Leben soll ein Fest sein
Australian Premiere
Biography / Drama
Pioneering female painter Paula Modersohn-Becker is portrayed in loving, colourful strokes by Carla Juri (Morris from America) in this engaging German biopic.
Contemporary Selection
Leanders letzte Reise
Australian Premiere
Drama
This gripping and touching drama about the long shadows of the past follows a 92-year-old former German Army officer as he searches for the woman he loved long ago.
Contemporary Selection
Drei Zinnen
Australian Premiere
Drama
A superbly crafted and utterly gripping drama starring Bérénice Bejo and Alexander Fehling about a seemingly idyllic family on holiday in the Italian Dolomites.
Contemporary Selection
Australian Premiere
Romantic Drama
After weeks of avoiding one another, separated couple Hannah and Julian must spend New Year’s Eve painting their shared apartment in Niels Laupert’s intimate romantic drama.
Contemporary Selection
Als Paul über das Meer kam
Australian Premiere
Documentary
Set against the turbulent backdrop of the current European border crisis, documentarian Jakob Preuss follows migrant Paul Nkamani’s inexhaustible flight to freedom from Cameroon to Berlin.
Fack Ju Göhte Trilogy
Fack Ju Göhte Trilogy
Comedy
A criminal who can barely spell is forced to become a substitute teacher in order to get access to his buried loot, in the original of the smash-hit franchise.
Fack Ju Göhte Trilogy
Australian Premiere
Comedy
The most popular German film of 2015 sees Zeki Müller tasked with taking his unruly students on a trip to Thailand, where he must contend with the pompous Schiller School.
Fack Ju Göhte Trilogy
Australian Premiere
Comedy
The third instalment follows Zeki Müller as he tries to make sure his rowdy students pass final exams while facing the possible closure of his school due to its catastrophic conditions.
Kino For Kids
Kino For Kids
Auf Augenhöhe
Australian Premiere
Comedy
Michi, 11, lives in a group home and dreams of meeting his long-lost father, but when he finally locates him, he discovers isn’t as he imagined.
Kino For Kids
Das doppelte Lottchen
Australian Premiere
Family
In this modern re-telling of Erich Kästner’s classic novel (made famous by The Parent Trap), twins Lotte and Luise trade places and try to reunite their separated parents.
Kino For Kids
Nicht ohne uns!
Australian Premiere
Documentary
A thought-provoking documentary that follows seven children from five continents as they travel to school, showing how their worlds might be different but they still have much in common.
Kino For Kids
ROBBI, TOBBI UND DAS FLIEWATÜÜT
Australian Premiere
Adventure
Toby, an 11-year-old inventor and his best friend Robby, an alien robot, embark on a grand adventure in their fantastic voyager to find Robby’s parents.
Kino For Kids
Australian Premiere
Drama
17-year-old Jana has a congenital heart defect. To defy fate, Jana seeks out every challenge and wild adventure, but everything changes when she meets the untamed stallion Rock My Heart.
Kino For Kids
Das Pubertier
Australian Premiere
Comedy
Based on the best-selling parenting book, a stay-at-home father (Jan Josef Liefers) finds himself in over his head when his darling daughter turns into a pubescent nightmare just before her 14th birthday.
Free Festival Screening
Free Festival Screening
Keinohrhasen
Comedy / Romance
In this hugely popular romantic comedy, tabloid journalist Ludo (Til Schweiger) meets his match when he is sent to work for the woman he used to tease in primary school.