Arne Gottschling

This whimsical tragicomedy short film portraits a fragment of an unusual mother-daughter relationship with strong, but somewhat headstrong women and a weird situational comedy.

The story of the last offspring of a powerful German family, whose cannons killed countless people in two world wars: Arndt von Bohlen und Halbach, the last Krupp. Unwilling to fulfill the expectations of both his family and their company, this homosexual son of an industrialist waived his inheritance of around three and a half billion marks. Or, to see it differently, was pushed into relinquishing a world dynasty because he was unable to lead it.

In the late 70s, young Petra Grust begins teaching at the progressive Odenwald School. She is flattered by the trust placed in her by its widely respected headmaster Simon Pistorius. But gradually certain incidents at the boarding school begin to unsettle her. Petra then realizes that Pistorius is abusing Frank, a 13-year-old. When Frank is told that he has to spend school holidays with Pistorius, he tries to commit suicide. Petra tells Frank's father (the chairman of the school's governing body) but he believes Pistorius instead of his own son. Petra fails to convince people of the man's true nature. 30 years later, Frank goes to Petra, who has long since left the school and has stopped teaching altogether. He has never been able to speak about what happened but now, after the suicide of another pupil, he is no longer willing to remain silent. He wants Petra to bear witness at the school's forthcoming anniversary celebrations.

Three loosely connected stories: The relationship between midwife Rosa and therapist Marcel is shaken to the core by a cancer diagnosis. Wandering aimlessly through life, waitress Motte is horrified to discover she’s pregnant – by her best friend Neo, who’s not even sure about his sexual orientation. Finally, cleaning lady Layla refuses to accept that her ex, Navid, has left her for a younger woman. Each situation escalates on one fateful night: A gun is fired, a woman dies, and a child is born. ‘Without you’ – an expression that can be formulated both negatively and positively: ‘I can’t live without you’ also means ‘life is much better with you’. Director Alexandre Powelz maximises this interpretation to its fullest potential. OHNE DICH is a film both about love and its bitter ingredients, and the equally sobering, yet comforting certainty that life goes on.

At sunrise five people meet on a high rise rooftop in order to leap to their deaths.

An independent tragicomedy, Run If You Can is the debut feature for director Brüggemann who, along with his sister, also wrote the compelling screenplay. Forced to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair, Ben is deeply desperate, despite his humor and vivaciousness. When he meets Christian, his new assistant, Ben treats him like every other helper he’s had. Things suddenly change when Christian meets Annika, “the cello player” whom Ben has been observing from his window for years. The three become close friends, putting Annika in the middle of an emotional, and somehow dangerous, ménage à trois. While conquering Annika is nothing very serious for career-focused Christian, Ben’s love for Annika reminds him of his past and forces him to face his most remote fears. A character-driven story, Run If You Can owes much of its power to the actors’ performances, especially Robert Gwisdek’s outstanding interpretation of Ben.

Teenage girl Lys is discovered inside the reactor of the newly build TERRA Power Plant and finds she is developing special powers that connect her to the energy of all living things.

Three young men, all of them outsiders, become friends: Richy (16), who is teased at school, Tim (16), who has moved from the west with his parents and has difficulties getting used to his new life, and Marco (18), who has problems coping with his parents' separation and the rejection he experiences from his father. Richy admires the strong and uncommunicative Marco.