A film journey around the world

Ten days of pure cinema enjoyment: from 26 September to 5 October, Hamburg will once again be transformed into a Mecca for film fans: Filmfest Hamburg will bring 144 productions from 56!!!! countries to the Hanseatic city, including several world and European premieres. Christian Schwochow's literary film Deutschstunde will celebrate its world premiere, as will the boxer drama Gipsy Queen by Hüsyin Tabak. And the best part: Cast and crew members from numerous films will be on hand to talk about the making and shooting of their film babies.

In the "Hamburg Film Show" sections, the Filmfest Hamburg presents - as the name suggests - works that were produced in or from Hamburg. But the "Große Freiheit" section will also be showing several North German film gems on the big screen. Don't know what to watch first and last? Then we have a few recommendations for you here:

With Deutschstunde, Bad Banks Director Christian Schwochow has dared to tackle a Siegfried Lenz classic that many people will remember from their German lessons. The film adaptation with Tobias Moretti and Ulrich Noethen was shot on Nordstrand and Pellworm, among other locations, and the script was written by Heide Schwochow. Executive Producer is the Hamburg-based company Network Movie. The adaptation of the novel will be released in German cinemas on 3 October.

28 September, 6.45 pm CinemaxX 1

29.09., 14.00 h Astor Filmlounge

In international aviation, 7500 is the code for aircraft hijackings. Patrick Vollrath's feature film debut is a gripping thriller set exclusively in the cockpit of an aeroplane - with Hollywood star Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the leading role. The film was produced by augenschein Filmproduktion, based in Cologne and Hamburg. Part of the post production also took place in the Hanseatic city.

27.09., 21:30 CinemaxX 8

02.10., 17:00 Abaton large

Pelikanblut centres on the emotional and dramatic relationship between a mother - played by Nina Hoss - and her newly adopted daughter: a touching story in which Hamburg-based Katrin Gebbe confronts the audience with despair, strong feelings and conflicts, but also mental boundaries. The drama is produced by Hamburg-based Verena Gräfe-Höft (Junafilm).

29.09., 18:30 hCinemaxX 1

04.10., 16:15 Passage

In the film Gipsy Queen by filmmaker Hüseyin Tabak (Dor Film West), single Roma Ali works as a cleaner in the Hamburg neighbourhood pub "Zur Ritze". When she discovers the boxing ring in the basement, memories of training with her father come flooding back. Gipsy Queen was largely filmed in Hamburg.

28.09., 21:45 CinemaxX 1

This gripping drama is based on a true story. Iran, February 1979: after the fall of the Shah, the Islamic Revolution sweeps across the country. The young chemist Beate (Katrin Röver) follows her husband Omid (Reza Brojerdi), an Iranian dissident living in the GDR, to his homeland. But after the initial atmosphere of optimism, the situation for Beate and her eight-year-old daughter quickly comes to a head. As the new revolutionary government turns more and more into a Without remorse regime, Beate's family has to make a fateful decision. The drama by Hossein Pourseifi (script/director) was produced by the Hamburg-based company Little Dream Entertainment.

02.10., 19:00 Passage

Directors Ali Hakim shot his new drama "Bonnie & Bonnie" in Hamburg Wilhelmsburg last year. What is it about? Two young girls fight for their love and break out of their previous lives. Yara and Kiki belong to two rival street gangs in the Wilhelmsburg district of Hamburg. When the two girls fall in love, nobody is allowed to find out about it - not their cliques and especially not Yara's Albanian-born family. But soon a mobile phone video appears on the internet that reveals their secret relationship. Yara and Kiki go all out. They raid a kiosk, steal a car and leave the city - pursued by the police and Yara's brother. Bonnie & Bonnie" was produced by the Hamburg-based company Riva Film. Hakim wrote the script together with Maike Rasch.

27 September, 19:00 CinemaxX 8

28 September, 8 p.m. Zinnwerke

The Documentary Cunningham by filmmaker Alla Kovgan brings the legendary choreographies of Merce Cunningham - danced by the last members of his famous company - back to life. In poetic images, the film follows Cunningham's artistic career from 1944 to 1972. Supported by 3D technology, his story and his ideas combine to create an emotional journey into the choreographer's world. The international co-production had several days of filming in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein and was premiered at the Toronto Film Festival.

03.10., 16:00 Passage

Ali, 30 years old, works for a trading company. As a single parent, he lives with his five-year-old son Amir-Hossein in a small house in the south of Tehran. He wants to do everything he can to satisfy his son's love of cars. After borrowing enough money from his friends and the bank, he tries to buy a friend's car. But instead, massive inflation leads to a sharp rise in prices, causing the deal to fall through. Deeply disappointed, Ali does everything he can to keep the promise he made. Executive Producer and Script Writer of the film is the Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasulo, who also has a residence in Hamburg. The film was directed by Ashkan Najafi.

29.09., 16:15 Passage

30.09., 20:00 h Hansa Filmstudios

Red Fields is an adaptation of the Israeli rock opera "Mami" from the 80s, which has become a cult film there. A total of 17 songs tell the incredible story of Mami, who flees her run-down city for Tel Aviv and becomes Prime Minister of Israel after a wild and adventurous journey. Directors Keren Yedaya's film has already won two awards at the film festival in Israel and was co-produced by Michael Eckelt and his Hamburg-based company Riva Filmproduktion. The sound post-production took place at Konken Studios in Hamburg. The film celebrated its world premiere at TIFF in Toronto.

02 October, 7 pm, Abaton large 03.10., 15.30 CinemaxX 2

A son accompanies his father on his last journey to his home village: "Noah's Land" is the feature film debut of up-and-coming Turkish director and Script Writer Cenk Ertürk at this year's Filmfest Hamburg. The drama has already had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York and was co-produced by the Hamburg-based company klinkerfilm.

29.09., 19:15 Studio cinema

01.10., 16:30 CinemaxX 2

In "Olanda", Hamburg-based Directors Bernd Schoch accompanies mushroom pickers at work in Romania, who live for months in makeshift tent camps along the Transalpina. The Documentary shows the viewer both the magical world of the Carpathian Mountains and the complex economic structures behind the mushroom trade. The film celebrated its world premiere at the Berlinale.

29.09., 20:30 h Metropolis

Mysterious, eerie and fascinating at the same time: Directors Victor Moreno explores the hidden world under Madrid in The Hidden City - co-produced by Hamburg filmmaker Dirk Manthey. A dive into an endlessly branching labyrinth of tunnels, sewers and metro stations. The film screened in the main competition of the international documentary film festival IDFA Amsterdam in 2018 and can now be seen on the big screen in Germany for the first time. Moreno co-wrote the script with Rodrigo Rodríguez and Nayra Sanz Fuentes.

01.10., 21:30 CinemaxX 2

Dieter Meier - player, poet, writer, filmmaker, photographer, bon vivant and voice of "Yello", founded in Zurich at the end of the 1970s and still a project full of expressiveness and experimentation today. Peter Sempel has spent over 30 years filming the Swiss artist and his extreme energy and versatility. Many shots, whether in Hamburg, New York, Los Angeles, Marrakesh or the Himalayas, were taken by chance and correspond with Meier's Babylonian way of working, which is itself often guided by chance.

28.09., 21:45 Metropolis

His bands "Cyan Revue" and "Die Erde" continue to inspire music groups such as "Messer" and "Isolation Berlin" to this day, but Tobias Gruben remained an insider tip throughout his life. In the midst of the vibrant music scene in Hamburg at the end of the 80s, he became intoxicated by both his love of music and all kinds of drugs. And in addition to success, he sought above all the approval of his father. The film sheds light on the path of a driven existence, Speakers with companions such as Rocko Schamoni and FM Einheit and lets the genius of Gruben shine again with partly unpublished archive footage.

29 September, 6 pm Metropolis