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Initiated in 2016, this artistic endeavor brings together non-binary, transgender, and queer individuals to explore their experiences beyond external definitions, redefining identity and corporeality with their unique idioms. In Endless, these explorations unfold through various media—performance, music, and VR—culminating in a hypnotic film that resembles a narcotic vision.

A police officer and his informant meet in a bar. While one longs for support, unspoken emotions seethe in the other.

What is a Lost Place? The idyll of a white mountain landscape whose silence is broken by a wolf chase after its prey? Or is it the man-made world with its search for resources, pleasure and security? Who is intruding on whom? Who is disturbing whom? In Lost Places (Heile Welt), a wolf goes on the prowl.

For the first time since they escaped the war in Guinea-Bissau, Eny, a painter living in Berlin, and his sister Titina, go on a journey through West Africa. After 17 years of exile and the passing of their mother, they are guided to the land of their ancestors.

After escaping Egypt following the 2011 revolution, an activist finds himself in Berlin, hoping to start a new life and find safety and freedom. However, he ends up living in a refugee camp located in an area where far-right groups frequently hold anti-refugee protests. Caught between the hostility of his new home and the nostalgia for his past life, he begins to question his life choices and what it means to walk down a queer path. By exploring his memories archives, he develops a new understanding of what it means to be in exile. He also forms new friendships with those around him and redefines the concept of "home" in Berlin.

She stood up to Alien: Sigourney Weaver has shown that women can put up a powerful fight. She became the mother of the modern action heroine in cinema. And a style icon. How did she achieve this?

A look at the past, present and future of NATO, which has shaped Europe's security and defense policies since 1949.

Hollywood film music has its roots in Europe. Three composers who fled war and National Socialism to the USA created the sound that still shapes film music today: Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Max Steiner and Franz Waxman. In the early 20th century, these classically trained composers transformed the methods acquired in Vienna and Berlin into a new American art form: film music. They balanced the relationship between image and sound and developed techniques and dramaturgical tricks to achieve the greatest possible effect on the viewer. Their influence is visible in the work of contemporary US composers such as John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith. Today, Oscar winner Hans Zimmer, Ramin Djawadi and Harold Faltermeyer continue this tradition. Their melodies are part of humanity's collective memory and reflect the combined traditions of European and American musical history. The documentary accompanies composers in their work and explores the European roots of Hollywood.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, citizens of East Germany had to get used to a new way of consuming, working, and living. New-found freedoms were a breath of fresh air for many but in the chaos leading up to reunification with West Germany, the experience was also disconcerting.

After a life-threatening operation, Hubert and Girwidz try to clear their minds on a mountain hike. At boundary marker 147, they come across two bodies — one on the German side and the other on the Austrian side.

Three human subjects are trapped in an endless cycle in a sterile room. They wake up from ecstasy chambers, undergo tests, and return to unconsciousness. PM001, driven by pain, begins to question the system and fights to free the others. However, her actions come at a deadly price, and every step has dire consequences.

Two-time Olympic champion, seven-time world champion, overall World Cup winner – Laura Dahlmeier is one of the most successful German biathletes and sportswomen of all time. But at an unusually early age, at just 25, she turned her back on winter sports and devoted herself to mountaineering. A film crew accompanied the exceptional athlete from Garmisch-Partenkirchen for three and a half weeks on her expedition to the spectacular Ama Dablam in Nepal. In addition to incredible drone footage of the mountain landscape, the documentary also features private moments during the ascent of the "Matterhorn of the Himalayas." The biathlon legend talks about her life as a mountain guide and alpinist after her sporting career, without concealing the dangers involved. Conversations with parents and friends reveal the character and motivation of the 31-year-old, making it clear why this exceptionally talented woman turned her back on the biathlon circuit at such a young age.

Eva and Artur want to spend an evening together in the big city in a hostel. They are the only guests. Or maybe not.

Shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion, 4 Ukrainian girls were forced to leave home and proceed their paths abroad, now living two lives at a time. The attempts to settle down in a foreign country are constantly interrupted by internal doubts, fear for the family back home, chats with friends who joined the army, and feelings of constant uncertainty about the future.

A portrait of the German-language Czech writer Franz Kafka (1883-1924), a mysterious, strange and solitary individual, but also a visionary creator.

5 short films, from 5 directors and 4 different countries on the theme of the Alter-Ego. The "Alter Ego Film Project" is inspired by the spirit of Maya Deren and her way of making films. Between double personality, secret identity, doppelgänger and impossible love we have discovered several unconventional stories halfway between narrative and experimental.

Hoda, an Iranian refugee in Germany, lives with her boyfriend, Hadi. An unexpected pregnancy leads her to examine common beliefs regarding gender roles in a relationship and challenges the current social norms surrounding feminine bodies and motherhood.

"Rudi" tells the story of retired loner Rudi, who falls in love with a perfect illusion of a beautiful woman, in fact his new neighbor Kim. In doing so, he leaves his long-established, conservative comfort zone unnoticed until he finally collides with reality.

It was one of the greatest natural disasters of all time. On the morning of Boxing Day 2004, a massive tsunami hit the coast of the Indian Ocean. More than 230,000 people died, including many holidaymakers from Germany and France. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary, survivors tell their stories. How has the disaster affected their lives to this day?

Stevie, a pea pod, has an accident at the gym and goes through an existential crisis since he can no longer be sold in the supermarket.

Helene Fischer presents her show with national and international stars again in 2024. The audience can expect a program with special music, surprising choreographies and duets, touching moments and unique highlights.

1.5 years after fleeing Russia for being queer, filmmaker Maksim Avdeev breaks the silence with their nationalist father over the phone.

A portrait of Alexei Navalny (1976), the staunchest opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, severely poisoned in 2020, arrested in 2021 and died on February 16, 2024 in a Siberian prison camp under unclear circumstances.

Prankster activists perform an elaborate hoax to improve conditions for garment workers in the Adidas supply chain. Staging a shocking runway show at Berlin Fashion Week, they use humor and mischief to make the world pay attention to labor and environmental abuses that the massive sportswear brand is trying to hide.

A man and his ship are sunk in Lake Constance and the dead man's son is missing. For the detectives, he is the prime suspect. Until an anonymous tip-off about a prisoner hidden in a box turns up...

The female breast has been a motif for as long as there has been art. For centuries, people have been creating works that showcase this intimate and emotionally charged part of the body. Today, female artists are questioning traditional ideals of beauty and countering the male-dominated perspective of the breast with their own.

Hayato Sumino is one of the classical music influencers of a new generation. Known as Cateen, he’s really shaking up the scene with his playful virtuosity at the piano and unique audiovisual performances. On his birthday in July 2024, Cateen gave a recital at the sold-out Budōkan Hall in Tokyo. This concert recording captures the highlights of the event.

The AfD, founded in 2013, is a right-wing party that has become increasingly radicalized in recent years. To illustrate this, only those who enthusiastically joined the party in its early years are heard. They describe what they looked for and found in the party, but also how and why they left, disillusioned and frightened by the AfD's developments. How did they experience the party's radicalization process? How did friends and family react? When and why did they decide to turn their back on the party? How difficult was the exit process? The documentary provides an illuminating inside view of this party, which has been driving the established parties and the political establishment ahead of it for over ten years, gives viewers a unique look into the AfD's chronicle and world of thought and is at the same time a film about the mechanisms of political radicalization.

The film portrays the lives of people from the Mexican border city of Tijuana. Through a combination of photographs, animations, and audio recordings, the film delves into the daily realities of four individuals who have different connections to the Mexican-American border.

Enthusiasm resounds at election campaign events with the right-wing extremist German AfD politician Björn Höcke. Some claim that he is his own biggest fan. Former colleagues believe that the chairman of the AfD Thuringia lives in the belief that something great is destined for him. On September 1, 2024, Björn Höcke won the state election in Thuringia for the first time, where he wants to become Prime Minister. Previously, Björn Höcke was twice fined for using a slogan from the Third Reich. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution classifies the AfD Thuringia regional association he leads as proven right-wing extremist. In a book, he made his radical restructuring plans for Germany public. But who is Björn Höcke actually? Where does his attitude, his view of Germany, his worldview come from? Which ideological masterminds are behind the figurehead Höcke? Is he being controlled or is he controlling the AfD? And: What can we expect from him in the future?

Young student Mia is trying to move on from her last relationship when she discovers that her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend watch her on Instagram daily.

A punk documentary about the life and death of the GDR punk Dieter "Otze" Ehrlich and his band Schleimkeim aus dem Schweinestall. With the fall of the Wall, Otze loses not only his enemy images, but also his life at the price of freedom.

Santiago, Chile, 1985. Best friends Camila and Paula, both 7 years old, are neighbours. Living amidst sweetness and bitterness, their lives, along with those of their families and their neighbourhood, are shaped by the horrors of Pinochet's military dictatorship.

His buildings and sculptures still attract attention today, but their creator is almost forgotten: the sculptor and architect Bernhard Hoetger. The 90-minute film by Gabriele Rose tells the fate of this idiosyncratic artist. Hoetger is portrayed by the actor Moritz Führmann. Starring alongside him are Florian Lukas as Heinrich Vogeler, Katharina Stark as Paula Modersohn-Becker and Ulrich Gebauer as Ludwig Roselius.

Sprout. In the vacant lots against the hammering of buildings always under construction, between walls of granite, cement and sheet metal with rust, moss and cats; on the hillside between the train and the river, next to the traffic on the highway, facing the subway, vegetable gardens sprout. In this city, the choreography of ancient gestures of cultivating the land is repeated day after day, without fail. Sowing, digging, harvesting, watering, eating, talking, resting and returning the next day. The longest day of the year brings S. João and nobody goes to bed, but when the sun rises, the discreet gestures of resistance will restart.

The film focuses on three male and one female soldier. They represent the challenges that the German army is currently facing: the Bundeswehr has too few personnel, too little equipment and for many years was not prepared for the type of war that it must now prepare for in the future. The film reflects the dramatic change from the perspective of those who have to shoulder the task of "national and alliance defense" in a very concrete and personal way in their everyday lives, at their location, in their unit.

The Mediateca Onshore in Malafo, a village in Guinea-Bissau, is an archive and a club for agropoetic practices. As Amílcar Cabral talks feminism on tape, the directors speak in the mangroves about the contradictions of depicting the community.

Leave the dancers, lasers and other confections at home. In Kiev in 2017, Salvador Sobral won Eurovision with an appearance that was as wonderful as it was small-scale, where the Portuguese pianist and singer sang ‘Amar Pelos Dois’, a delicately nuanced ballad.

Prisoner No. 626710 is Present chronicles the arrest and prolonged incarceration of activist Umar Khalid, accused of orchestrating the 2020 New Delhi riots. Through archival footage and personal accounts, Lalit Vachani explores Khalid's activism, the impact of his imprisonment on his partner Banojyotsna Lahiri, and the broader crackdown on dissent under the Modi government. The film situates Khalid’s story within the larger political repression of civil rights movements and Muslim voices in India.

The three forest workers Paul, Kalle and Boris discover a mysterious suitcase in the forest, that turns their lives upside down.

In a strange place where daily broadcasts require everyone to “keep the silence”, the long-isolated residents of Edifice 129, trapped in their apartments and by distant memories, creep forwards, day by day. / Edifice 129 is a particular collaborative project, created by filmmakers across three countries. In the midst of the COVID-19 lock-downs, Linda Gasser — director of the Arc Film Festival in Mainz, Germany — invited filmmakers to join her Creatives Across Borders initiative. The aim was to meet via Zoom, support each other, and talk film, but talking film soon turned into developing a film. Meeting regularly, sometimes weekly, four writer/directors and a digital 3D artist created short films designed to work both as standalone projects and, when inter-cut, as one cohesive story, despite being filmed in Germany, the UK and Malta, and with the filmmakers never having met in person until after the films were finished.

Italo Svevo (real name Ettore Schmitz) was born in Trieste in 1861 and was almost overlooked as a writer during his lifetime. It was only with his novel "La Coscienza di Zeno" ("Zeno's Conscience") in 1923 that he achieved his breakthrough. The modernity of the work fascinated his friend James Joyce (1882-1941), who then opened the doors to the literary Paris of the 1920s for him.

This mixtape by Simon Spachmann offers a comprehensive selection of disturbing and fascinating works that will thrill fans of underground horror.

Young, queer, happy… Vincent’s life is almost too good to be true.

Darkness haunts the young girl, Raja. Overwhelmed by the weight of her shadows, she collapses. A light appears and her journey begins. In search for the end, Raja stumbles through a wondrous in-between world. There, she finds something she thought she had lost forever.

Something terrible happens at a Croatian wedding in the municipality of Stinatz: the bride disappears without a trace after “stealing the bride“. None of those present can explain what could have happened to her.

Loitz is one of those former GDR towns that still suffer from the effects of German reunification. For a year "Infinite Place" looks behind the gray facade of the seemingly dying town and questions concepts of home and identity through the perspective of its old and new inhabitants. The town’s vacancy and people’s urge for self-realization create a fruitful look into the future.