Focus on the scene

11.04.2018 | Schleswig-Holstein Film Festival

Shooting of "Abgetaucht", the new film by up-and-coming talent Moritz Boll

More Schleswig-Holstein: on 20 and 21 April, the Filmfest Schleswig-Holstein 2018 will take place at the Pumpe in Kiel. With an even more regional programme, the festival aims to better connect the local film scene and at the same time bring the latest productions by filmmakers from Schleswig-Holstein to the big screen. For the first time, two audience awards and the SH Short Film Award will also be presented.

Far away from the international blockbusters of the mainstream chains, a festival dedicated to the North German film scene is now taking place in Kiel for the 22nd time: Over the last few years, the Filmfest Schleswig-Holstein has become a regional meeting place that showcases the work of northern German filmmakers, from feature films and animated films to experimental projects - regardless of whether they are up-and-coming talents or already established. Documentaries are a particular focus of the programme.

More regional and with new prices

In 2018, the festival's motto is "more regional, more concentrated, more intensive" - all 23 competition films come from Schleswig-Holstein. "With the idea of positioning the film festival even more clearly as a showcase of production in the state, we hope to achieve a better exchange between the filmmakers and with the audience," reveals festival director Arne Sommer from Filmwerkstatt Kiel. Guests can expect an exciting insight into the local film scene with political, critical, but also bizarre material. There will be a total of eight film programmes on Friday and Saturday. The festival will also be showing two web series for the first time this year:Dyke bulls by Michael Söth is the somewhat quirky story about two police officers transferred from Hamburg to Kollmar, which has been running on Netfix since last year. The scifi comedy seriesPenta Quad by filmmaker Jessica Dahlke is set in the year 2060 and accompanies the crew of the Flying Discman to the edge of the solar system to test a hyperstream drive - the entire season is even shown for bingwats.

And something has also changed with the film awards this year, because for the first time in the history of the festival, the audience has the opportunity to become active themselves: The audience awards for one feature-length and one short film (donated by Filmkultur Schleswig-Holstein e.V.), each worth a total of 2,000 euros, will be presented on Saturday following the "Kurze SH" short film evening. Another premiere is the Short Film Award SH (sponsored by PSD-Bank), which is also endowed with 2000 euros.

We would like to present a small excerpt from the programme below.

"A highlight this year is the Kiel premiere of the film that has already been successfully launched at the Max Ophüls Prize in SaarbrückenFollowing Habeckenthuses Arne Sommer. In this Documentary, Schleswig-Holstein filmmaker Malte Blockhaus follows Green Party politician Robert Habeck during his election campaign to become his party's top candidate. He shows a cross-section of a top politician's diary - without many private moments, always on the way to the next appointment.

When? Friday, 20 April, 8:30 pm

Photo: Malte Blockhaus

The name says it all: three village schools in Schleswig-Holstein are at the centre of Gabriele Kob and Hanno Hart's film. The two filmmakers show what can be done to combat the "dying schools" in rural areas with a great deal of commitment and inventiveness. Recommended for imitation!

When? Saturday, 21 April, 1 pm

Photo: Gabriele Kob and Hanno Hart

Some people's lives are as eventful as a good novel. The 88-year-old Siegfried Wanka has such a life behind him. He was a gambler, a notorious womaniser and a border crosser. This short film is the preface to the novel of his life. The story before the story. About a 16-year-old who was almost shot on Sylt at the end of the war. Who went down with a minesweeper off Schleswig-Holstein and survived. Directors was Grimme Award winner Jens Becker.

When? Saturday, 21 April, 3.30 pm

Photo: elemag pictures GmbH

Directors Rainer Komers, who has already won several awards, undertakes a new endeavour withCourse announcement a documentary foray through northern German coastal landscapes that places urban aesthetics in relation to people and nature.

When? Saturday, 21 April, 6 pm

Photo: Rainer Komers

The talented youngster from Kiel, Moritz Boll, sends inSubmergeda father and his daughter and their caravan in a wooded area. But it soon becomes clear that there is something wrong with the adventure holiday. The idyllic shots were filmed at the Riesewohld trout farm in the Dithmarscher Geest.

When? Saturday, 21 April, 8.30 pm

Photo: Moritz Boll Film

Off to Pellworm: After Noah learns that he has inherited a house there from his father (whom he never met), he sets off with his mother to North Friesland - and discovers his past. The two filmmakers Jan Waßmuth and Felix Zimmer come from the far north themselves (Kiel). Waßmuth is now CEO of Fabelzucker Filmproduktion UG in Hamburg, Zimmer has been an actor at Kiel Theatre since 2006.

When? When? Saturday, 21 April, 20:30

Photo: Jan Waßmuth and Felix Zimmer

Directors Aron Krause, who comes from Schleswig-Holstein, tells the story of 25 years in half an hour:Your children is a music film that uses interwoven biographies to tell German history from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the present day - in the microcosm of an apartment block. A cross-genre film about childhood and growing up, first love and coming-of-age, full of quotes and allusions against the social and pop-cultural backdrop of the last quarter of a century.

When? Saturday, 21 April, 20:30

Photo: JoLarsson