Some stories make you wonder if they can be true or if they are fiction. But they reflect reality, life as it is. Filmmakers take us into unique, special, even painful stories, into the lives of people and places, into worlds that may seem far away, but are often closer than we imagine.
Documentaries are well-represented at the 57th Hof International Film Festival with a total of 28 films. Among them is Austrian filmmaker Günter Schwaiger, who has already screened his films in Hof several times, and this time will present the German premiere of WHO IS AFRAID OF HITLER'S TOWN?, a very personal film that attracted international attention. We would be happy to give you an insight:
WHO IS AFRAID OF HITLER'S TOWN? A HOUSE AND THE PAST WITHIN US, direction: Günter Schwaiger (Austria 2023)
Why
has no film ever been produced in Austria about Adolf Hitler's
birthplace and house? Starting from this question, the director begins
his five-year project. He accompanies the heated debates surrounding the
subsequent use of the house after a state expropriation, deals with
"brown clichés" of a city and finally confronts his own family history.
In the meantime, a discovery in the newspaper archive leads to heated
discussions among historians.
BIS HIERHIN UND WIE WEITER?, direction: Felix Maria Bühler (Germany 2023)
How
far is climate activism allowed to go? Five protagonists try to find
answers to this question after a climate hunger strike. In the meantime,
Lina has taken to the streets for the "Last Generation". However, this
kind of protest does not go far enough for Taura, Guerrero, Charly and
Fuchs; they want to find other ways. The film, which does without
interviews, provides intimate insights into the work of the
organizations "Fridays For Future," "Letzte Generation," "End of
Terrain" and "Extinction Rebellion."
THE ART OF FRIENDS - BUSINESS UNUSUAL, direction: Lukas Riedl (Germany 2023)
A
fourth-generation family brewery is changing course from classic beer
brewing to a street art location that can be experienced. An ambitious
undertaking in Bayreuth, Bavaria, where art has always been associated
with the composer Wagner. An exciting development story in which craft
and art are to benefit from each other.
QUEER EXILE BERLIN, direction: Jochen Hick (Germany 2023)
The
documentary accompanies six queer people from different backgrounds who
have chosen Berlin as their home and live their identities there. Some
because they wanted to, others because they had to. The film interweaves
personal stories and ambitions with historical and current
developments. A portrait of a city that is both a perpetual place of
longing and a challenge.
PROJECT BALLHAUSPLATZ – RISE AND FALL OF SEBASTIAN KURZ, direction: Kurt Langbein (Austria 2023)
A
critical film about how a group of young men managed, through
meticulous planning, to take over the government and lead it to the
brink of democracy. A film that attempts to decode the "Kurz system" and
retell the path of the Austrian ex-chancellor using video and film
archive collages as well as descriptions from companions.
DETZMAN WALKING, direction: Kai-Uwe Kohlschmidt (Germany 2022)
German
colonial officer Hermann Detzner hid in the jungles of what is now
Papua New Guinea during the First World War. He later wrote a glorified
book about that time that helped him achieve brief fame. A group of
artists explores this story of post-colonial dislocation on an
expedition.
HARRAGA - THOSE WHO BURN THEIR LIVES, direction: Benjamin Rost (Germany, Morocco 2023)
Five
Moroccan teenagers live in a cave under a lighthouse and call
themselves: Harraga - those who burn their lives. The film accompanies
them for half a decade between a life in a micro-society with its own
rules and attempts to escape to Europe.
A COOLER CLIMATE, direction: James Ivory, Giles Gardener (United Kingdom 2022)
In
1960, filmmaker and Academy Award® winner James Ivory, made a trip to
Afghanistan to shoot scenes for a documentary film. However, it was
never completed. In 2022, at the age of 94, Ivory decided to review the
old footage with editor and documentary filmmaker Giles Gardener. The
result is a very personal film about James Ivory as a traveler, outsider
and artist.
THE PENPAL, direction: Sarah Klewes (Germany 2023)
Director
Sarah Klewes is 12 years old when she meets 77-year-old writer Claretta
Cerio in Tuscany. This develops into a pen friendship that lasts until
Cerio's death. In 2022, Sarah travels to Italy with the letters in her
luggage to remember her beloved friend. In a mix of fictional scenes and
documentary interviews, a portrait of a special writer unfolds.
BEHIND GOOD DOORS, direction: Julia Beerhold (Germany 2023)
Two
siblings. The parents love and encourage them, but also use brute force
against them. No contradiction for them. Blows, even on wounds, slaps
when they fall down. Sometimes without reason. The siblings are the
director and her brother. The film documents the story of a family and
makes an attempt to talk about something that is usually kept quiet: The
abuse of their own children.
MOTHERLAND, direction: Miriam Pucitta (Germany, Switzerland 2022)
As a daughter, director Miriam Pucitta was given to strangers by her mother so that she could keep her job. Was she a "forbidden child"? Today, together with her own daughter, she searches for traces and injuries of her family in Germany, Italy and Switzerland and discovers a chapter of labor migration that is widely unknown.
WHAT REMAINS - JOURNALISTS IN CRISIS AREAS, direction: Lotta Pommerien (Germany 2023)
This
film accompanies three female crisis reporters in their work. It asks
what their job entails for them, how they react in situations of stress
and fear, and whether it makes a difference that they, as women, report
from patriarchal countries and regions.
SLEEPING GIANT, Regie: Markus Schröder (Germany 2023)
50
years after the end of the war, two former commanders of the FARC
rebels return to Colombia. In a hostile society, they quickly realize
that the wounds of the conflict have still not healed. When the new
president allows the peace process to fail, their names appear on
paramilitary death lists and a fight for survival begins.
DISTURBANCE, Regie: Constantin Hatz (Germany 2022)
In
2015, the director's best friend takes his own life. He had fled the
war in Yugoslavia as a child, never really arriving in his new homeland.
Over the years, he wrote down his thoughts in notes that represent a
self-reflection on his life, which was marked by war and flight. With an
ensemble of laymen and actors, Constantin Hatz brings this written
material in monologue form to a documentary film in five episodes.
SCHLEIMKEIM - OTZE AND THE GDR FROM UNDER GROUND, Regie: Jan Heck (Germany 2023)
The
film takes a time travel through the underground of the GDR until its
collapse. It is a documentary about the punk musician Dieter "Otze"
Ehrlich and his band Schleimkeim. The fall of the Wall costs Otze not
only his enemy imagery, but ultimately his life.
IN THE LAND OF WOLVES, Regie: Ralf Bücheler (Germany 2023)
100
years after their extinction, wolves are returning to Germany, a
densely populated and human-dominated country. This was decided
democratically. The film tells about the life of the new neighbors and
about the lives of those who do everything to make this new community
succeed.