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New German Cinema

Opening Night

Elyas M’Barek and Jonas Nay deliver star performances in this exciting new drama from Balloon director Michael ‘Bully’ Herbig, about the real-life 2018 fake news scandal involving a disgraced Der Spiegel journalist.

Australian Premiere

Exploring a young man's compulsion to self-invent, this chilling character study follows a museum attendant who invites his colleagues on a sailing trip aboard his aristocratic family’s boat but cracks soon appear.

Australian Premiere

Family conflicts are brought to the surface on the stunning Spanish island of Lanzarote in this all-star caustic comedy of manners and sequel to 2019 hit How About Adolf?, from acclaimed director Sönke Wortmann. 

Australian Premiere

A success story at 150bpm, this music documentary follows Germany's undisputed techno superstars Scooter and their eccentric front man H.P Baxxter in the two and a half years since 2020.

Australian Premiere

In this quirky dramatic comedy, Franky has a hotel in her head, inhabited by four weird but lovable characters who can switch into her body in the real world by using the elevator.

Australian Premiere

Inspired by director Aelrun Goette’s experiences as a model in the late 1980s in the German Democratic Republic, this enchanting drama tells a story of beauty, fashion and freedom in 1989 East Berlin.

Australian Premiere
Special Presentation
Direct from Berlinale

Vicky Krieps shines as charismatic Austrian writer Ingeborg Bachmann in this stylish biopic from Margarethe von Trotta, which chronicles Bachmann’s unconventional life and tumultuous romance with Swiss playwright Max Frisch.

Australian Premiere

Inspired by true events, this drama set in April 1945 explores the unexpected friendship that emerges after a chance encounter between three very different women; Russian sniper Vera, German village girl Winnie and Jewish-Dutch woman Simone.

Australian Premiere

On the run from the media and his own past, Germany’s biggest movie star dives into a campaign to save a small feminist theatre in this entertaining romcom starring Elyas M'Barek and Alexandra Maria Lara.

Australian Premiere

Driven by extensive archive material and incisive interviews, Merkel is the astonishing story of how a triple political outsider –a woman, a scientist, and an East German–became Germany’s first female chancellor and the de facto leader of the free world.

Australian Premiere
Closing Night

Twenty-six years ago, four women vowed to celebrate their weddings together and now one of them invites the others to Italy, resulting in a chaotic road trip in this female-led and directed drama.

Australian Premiere

An all-star ensemble featuring Tom Schilling and David Kross adapts Isabel Bogdan's bestselling novel in this variation of the classic crime comedy set on a Scottish country estate. 

Australian Premiere
Special Presentation
Direct from Berlinale

A story of the rich and powerful, in the late 19th Century, this wild reinterpretation of the “Sisi” myth starring Susanne Wolff and Sandra Hüller follows the lady-in-waiting of Empress Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary, as they live in an aristocratic commune in Greece.

Australian Premiere

In this fascinating exploration of relationships, a seemingly happy young couple visit a mysterious island where they participate in a body-exchange ritual which changes their perception, their sexuality and sense of self.

Australian Premiere

Set in 1990 during a warm summer in Thuringia in the former East Germany, this seductive drama from Emily Atef follows a young woman who begins a relationship with a charismatic middle-aged farmer.

Australian Premiere
Centrepiece
Direct from Berlinale

A dedicated, idealistic teacher is pushed to the brink when she investigates a series of thefts at her new school in this tense drama starring European Shooting Star Leonie Benesch.

Australian Premiere

A smart, subtle blend of genre and auteur cinema, in this thriller undercover cop Robert is supposed to gain the trust of a drug dealer by faking a relationship.

Australian Premiere

Based on the bestselling book by Mariana Leky, this whimsical drama set in a small village follows a series of eccentric characters who have their lives upended when a premonition occurs.

Australian Premiere