21.08.2026 | ‘Ghost Song’ in the competition
Love, death, longing and loss: Fatih Akin’s new film “Ghost Song” will open the San Sebastián International Film Festival on 18 September – and “Geister” is also Akin’s first film to date to be featured in the main competition of this prestigious festival. Filmmaker Salka Tiziana will celebrate the world premiere of her short film “Gluey Feathers” in the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera section, Andrei Zvyagintsevs "Minotaur" will be shown in the section "Perlak".
The poetic drama was filmed over 43 days in Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Bavaria. Akin co-wrote the screenplay with Ruth Toma (‘Der Junge muss an die frische Luft’). “Ghost Song” was produced by bombero international and Warner Bros. in co-production with Rialto Film. At the heart of the story are Farasha (Mariam Dawoud) and Faris (Eren M. Güvercin), who meet at a graduation party and fall in love at first sight. When Farasha suddenly dies that very same night, an extraordinary love story unfolds between two worlds: she finds a way to meet Faris in his dreams. “Ghost Song” received 900,000 euros in production funding from the MOIN Film Fund.
Salka Tiziana’s short film follows Frida, a Spanish woman, through a harvest season at a nursery in Hamburg. Amidst the greenhouses and vegetable crates, relationships seem to blossom, whilst nature sets its own unfathomable rhythm. The script was written by Salka Tiziana and Tom Otte, who also handled the cinematography. Filming took place over nine days in Hamburg (Vier- and Marschlande). “Gluey Feathers” received 35,000 euros in funding from the MOIN Film Fund.
The international co-production *Minotaur*, directed by Andrei Zvyagintsev, centres on Gleb, the CEO of a successful company in a provincial Russian town, who finds himself under increasing pressure as he faces mounting professional problems and a personal crisis. When he discovers that his wife is having an affair, his life is thrown off balance – and threatens to spiral out of control in an increasingly unstable environment. The script was written by Seymen Lyashenko. The film was co-produced by Razor Film Produktion. The MOIN Film Fund supported the production with 100,000 euros; part of the post production took place in Hamburg.
