Katharina Schmidt

Thomas Wellmann is an electrical engineer at the municipal utilities in a small town and is replaced by an AI in his mid-50s. Then a prolonged power cut becomes the trigger for Thomas to prepare himself, his wife and his two daughters for an emergency...

Talib Shah Hossaini, a 37-year-old Afghan filmmaker and asylum-seeker, lives in Moria on the Greek island of Lesbos – the biggest refugee camp in Europe until it burnt to the ground in autumn 2020. One year into his life in the camp, Talib Shah finds himself on the verge of losing hope. Instead of giving up, however, he decides to shoot a film called Picnic − an insider’s look at the lives of thousands of refugees stuck in a place sometimes described as a humanitarian disaster. Exploring topics such as dreams versus reality, art as a means of survival, or the current immigration policies in Europe, the film invites us to become better acquainted with the people who will soon be our neighbours.

A city, a cinema, and a reluctant farewell. In 2017, in the city of Constance on Lake Constance, Europe’s largest chain of drugstores opened the city’s fifth branch store: more diapers, more toothpaste and more toiletries for the local residents and the consumer tourists from Switzerland. Until the year 2016, the premises were reserved for film culture, this was the location of the former “Scala Film Palace”. When Douglas Wolfsperger returns to the magical site of his cinematic socialization, the public opposition to this pending closure is in full swing. The filmmaker becomes witness to the final rebellion of a dying art house cinema, speaks to passionate film enthusiasts and matter-of-fact city administrators about loss and expansion, the increase in pleasure and trade, intransparent vested interests and advantageous business situations. Inner cities and cultural concepts change – in Constance and everywhere else. But who decides how and for whom?

A beautiful young detective goes to the rescue of a teacher kidnapped by a former student.