Dear Readers,

We are delighted that several German films have enjoyed success at international film festivals in the first six months of this year. German productions and co-productions have regularly featured in the line-ups of the A-list festivals, with German films and filmmakers also being among the prize-winners. Mascha Schilinski‘s SOUND OF FALLING attracted particular attention at the film festival in Cannes. As the first film to be shown in the Competition, it was also a sensation right from the outset. The Cannes jury awarded the Jury Prize (ex-aequo) to SOUND OF FALLING.

The prominent appearance of German films now continues at the Locarno Film Festival. No less than three films as German majority co-productions are in competition at the Swiss film festival which is held at the beginning of August. Kamal Aljafari’s WITH HASAN IN GAZA will open the International Competition, and PHANTOMS OF JULY by Julian Radlmaier – see the portrait in this issue on pages 8 and 9 – and Alexandre Koberidze’s DRY LEAF can also be seen in this section. The German-American production of Brian Kirk’s THE DEAD OF WINTER will be shown on the Piazza Grande – starring Emma Thompson, who will also receive the Leopard Club Award in Locarno. And two short films – BLIND, INTO THE EYE by Atefeh Kheirabadi and Mehrad Sepahnia, and THE UNIFORMED by Timon Ott – have also been selected for the line-up of this year‘s Pardi Di Domani: Concorso Internazionale section.

The German productions screening in Venice will include SILENT FRIEND by Ildiko Enyedi in the main competition, Roderick Warich’s FUNERAL CASINO BLUES in the Orizzonti competition, A SOIL A CULTURE A RIVER A PEOPLE by Viv Li in Orrizzonti – Short Films as well as HOLOFICTION by Michal Kosakowski, SHORT SUMMER by Nastia Korkia and COTTON QUEEN by Suzannah Mirghani in various other sections. German productions and filmmakers will also be prominently featured in Venice this year at the “Gap Financing Market”. The German productions ATHOS 2643 by David Wnendt, CALL ME QUEEN by Emily Atef, and SAVE OUR SOULS by Jonas Steinacker are among a selection of 54 projects from around the world that are in the final stages of development and financing.

As part of our “History” series, this issue takes a look at internationally successful German female filmmakers throughout the history of cinema. The article shows how actresses such as Luise Rainer, Marlene Dietrich and Sandra Hüller as well as filmmakers from Lotte Reiniger through Margarethe von Trotta to Maren Ade have left their particular mark on German film history on an international level.

We are now looking forward to an exciting second half of 2025 with more interesting German films and courageous filmmakers.

Simone Baumann, Managing Director