Creative Newcomers

Once again this year, the German films at the 52nd Hof International Film Festival will be presenting a variety of subjects, formal experiments and unconventional interpretations. The reflection on family, one’s sense of home, and friendship plays a central role. But also the question of social development, the positioning of the individual within the community and vice versa, and the expectations of society on the individual are just some of the topics dealt with in the films. There are stories about the desire for love, growing up, the question of what ‘home’ means, small town and big city life, and the search for traces of the past. Family, relationships, and coexistence seem to be of central significance for the filmmakers of this year’s festival edition.

In addition to the already announced opening film HAPPINESS SUCKS by Anca Miruna Lăzărescu, we would like to present a first selection of the feature films:

ATLAS
by David Nawrath
60-year-old Walter is a furniture remover for forced evictions. He is the most loyal worker his boss has in his company, until the day he is confronted with the situation that his previously unknown son is one of the occupants who refuses to move out.
With Rainer Bock, Albrecht Schuch, Thorsten Merten, Uwe Preuss.

DER SCHREI
by Bünyamin Musullu
For Niko, social rules are foreign. He lets himself drift aimlessly in everyday life and always rubs people the wrong way, not because he’s breaking the rules, but simply because he doesn’t follow them. He is constantly searching and wants to experience something new, no matter what it is.
With Bardo Böhlefeld, Ronja Herberich, Friederike Friedrichs

ES IST AUS, HELMUT
THAT’S IT, HELMUT
by Petra Lüschow
West Germany in the 80s: the 60s and all of its ideals of awakening and freedom have finally arrived in the provinces when a left-wing, liberal-minded teacher comes to Ursula’s school and she falls head over heels in love with him.
With Anna Hornstein, Florian Stetter, Christina Grosse, Thorsten Merten,

ICH LIEBE ALLES, WAS ICH AN DIR HASSE
by Nadine Keil
Helena is hopelessly in love with Kai, her twin sister Mia’s boyfriend. When Mia brings her affair Finn with them on their sister’s holiday, Helena thinks she just may have a chance. How convenient that scientists have scattered hormone traps in the woods nearby, which set the dynamics in motion.
With Maria and Klara Wördemann, Aaron Arens, Michael Kranz

KANUN
by Til Obladen and Kida Ramadan
Kanun is the Albanian customary law from pre-Roman times which decrees that the oldest man in the family has the say in cases of marriage and criminal law. Can Agim evade conviction from this law?
With Kida Ramadan, Blerim Destanni, Frederick Lau

KILL ME TODAY, TOMORROW I'M SICK!
by Joachim Schroeder and Tobias Streck
Pristina 1999. Anna works for the aid organization OSCE and is proud of her contribution to democratic change in the Balkan states. But she has to come to terms with the fact that not all of her colleagues think the same way as she does. Can she really rely on the Plaka, the soldier of fortune?
With Karin Hanczewski, Carlo Ljubek, Tommy Sowards, Sigi Zimmerschied

RAUS
by Philipp Hirsch
“Our world has hit rock bottom, all the wrong people are on the trigger!” That’s the way Glocke sees it, at least for the time being. He tries his hand at being an activist, but all he really wants to do is impress a girl.
With Matti Schmidt-Schaller, Milena Tscharntke, Tom Gronau

SCHWIMMEN
SWIMMING
by Luzie Loose
The friends Elisa and Anthea, both 15, develop a game in which they record everything they do with their cell phones. What starts out as a funny game soon develops a destructive dynamic.
With Stephanie Amarell, Lisa Vicari, Alexandra Finder, Jürg Plüss

VOM LOKFÜHRER, DER DIE LIEBE SUCHTE
THE BRA
by Veit Helmer
Nurlan the train driver steers his train, day in and day out, through the densely populated suburbs of Bakus, where the tracks are so close to the houses that Nurlan seems to literally drive right through their living rooms and gardens. One day a blue lace bra gets caught on his engine and Nurlan goes in search of its owner.
With Predrag 'Miki' Manojlovic, Denis Lavant, Paz Vega

WENN FLIEGEN TRÄUMEN
by Katharina Wackernagel
A psychotherapist and her half-sister are on their way to Norway in a red fire truck, followed by bunch of stranded characters, clouded by a mix of vodka and a few random flies, who start dreaming …
With Thelma Buabeng, Nina Weniger, Johannes Klaußner

WO KEIN SCHATTEN FÄLLT
HANNA’S HOMECOMING
by Esther Bialas
For the summer holidays, 14-year-old Hanna returns to her hometown, a secluded place behind a marsh. The local villagers confront her with mistrust, strange things are happening.
With Valerie Stoll, Milena Tscharntke, Godehard Giese