DAS FILMFEST
16. - 20.10. 2023
Since 2006, the DAS FILMFEST German-language film festival has been opening the film festival season every October. It regularly presents a selection of the most recent films from Germany, Austria and Switzerland - whether they are high-quality mainstream films, documentaries or films that have been successful at international film festivals. DAS FILMFEST introduces Czech audiences to films that would otherwise have a hard time finding their way into local cinemas. At the same time, the festival offers an inspiring meeting of the audience with representatives of European cinema.
DAS FILMFEST will take place again in 2024 in autumn on the following dates:
PRAGUE | 16.-20.10.
BRNO | 22-26.10.
OLOMOUC | 1.-5.11.
He is complicated, full of self-doubt and terminally ill, while she stands with both feet firmly on the ground and loves life. When Franz Kafka and Dora Diamant meet, no one would have guessed they would fall in love. But as fate would have it, they spend a year together, during which they prove to death how powerless it is against love. Show more
Thirteen-year-old Jonja goes on holiday with her best friend Paul's family without her mother's knowledge. They spend wonderful days at the lake, full of excitement and fun. Her heart goes out to the girl and her friendship with Paul grows even stronger. She enjoys her stay immensely. When the truth comes out about her running away from her family, her friendship with Paul stands on the precipice... Show more
Berlin, 1942. It was the most beautiful summer for Hilde - she was madly in love with Hans and happily pregnant. But in the midst of passion, a great danger lurks. Hans joins the anti-Nazi resistance with a group of young people who later come to be called the "Red Orchestra". Despite the enormous risk, Hilde also joins the resistance, but is arrested by the Gestapo and gives birth to her son in prison. Now in a desperate situation, Hilde develops a quiet inspirational power, but she has only a few months left with her son. With Love, Your Hilde is based on the true story of Hilde and Hans Coppi, who were executed in Berlin-Plötzensee. In total, more than 50 members of the "Red Orchestra" were murdered between 1942 and 1943. Show more
Everywhere in the house hang paintings, photographs and pictures of the young and beautiful Angelica. She was born into a hairdressing dynasty and her appearance has always played a major role. Today, the 74-year-old transsexual looks back on the life she risked everything for in 1969. A portrait of a woman who goes through life with great confidence, passion and courage. She never stopped fighting for her life as a woman. Show more
The film star Daniel seems to lead a perfect life: he lives in an elegant apartment in Berlin, has a beautiful wife and a nanny who takes care of the children. When he travels to London for a casting call, he stops briefly at his favourite pub. It's quiet, there are no fans waiting for him and he can go through his dialogue in peace. But he hadn't counted on someone like Bruno. The stranger knows not only all the actor's films, but also many details of his private life. The longer the conversation lasts, the more scared Daniel becomes of the stranger. This eternally overlooked man - one of the victims of the reunification and gentrification of the former East Berlin - is out for revenge. And Daniel is the ideal victim... Daniel Brühl in his directorial debut. The film was recently released by director and lead actor Daniel Brühl to a sold-out Thermal in Karlovy Vary. Show more
Growing up on the grounds of the largest psychiatric hospital in Schleswig-Holstein is somehow different. For Joachim, the youngest son of the director (Devid Striesow), the patients are practically part of the family. They are also much nicer to him than his two older brothers, who drive him to tantrums. His mother, who paints watercolors, longs for Italian summer nights instead of the constant rain in northern Germany, while his father secretly, but not discreetly enough, goes his own way. But as Joachim slowly grows up, his world begins to crack, and not just because of the loss of his first love... Show more
Where are you going, Europe? In his film essay, the documentary filmmaker poses this question to seemingly random actors across Europe. He observes grenade collectors from long-defunct World War I trenches in Belgium, Greek dockworkers precariously employed in the wake of the financial crisis, paper restorers from a bombed-out library in Sarajevo. In their search, they encounter patterns in which we have been trapped for generations. He traces the traces of devastation left behind by people in thrall to the dictates of power and endless growth. And he meets other men who are transforming this legacy and blazing other trails. Must history, with all its nightmares, keep repeating itself? What strengthens the thin shield that protects us from the abyss? A cinematic essay on Europe's search for identity, this film prompts reflection on the future of the continent. Show more
When the husband of former race skier Andrea Weingartner dies suddenly, ghosts of the past resurface. An intrusive neighbour brings back memories and traumas from the beginning of Andrea's career. After much thought, she calls the editorial office of a national daily. In an interview with the editor, she describes the system of abuse of power and sexualised violence in ski schools of which she was a victim as a young skier. In November 2017, the Austrian newspaper "Der Standard" published an interview with Nicola Werdenigg in which the former competitive skier describes a system of sexual abuse by coaches, tutors and colleagues. The director Antonin Svoboda used the case of Nicola Werdenigg as a model for his fictional but very faithful feature film adaptation. Show more
In 1938, Goebbels is at the height of his power, and his approval of Hitler's policies reaches unprecedented proportions. The dictator is now marching towards war. The mobilisation of the media is in full swing, propaganda companies are being set up. The film is almost perfectly staged, especially in the context of large-scale mass actions. A film that reconstructs the last seven years of the Third Reich and illuminates in particular the relationship between Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels. To avoid the usual depiction based on staged images, the film opts for fiction based on historical sources, including documented dialogue. These are supplemented by archival footage, which has rarely been screened before, and sequences of interviews with Holocaust survivors. Show more
Where do the stories we tell each other end, and the contours of harsh, honest reality begin? Boris and Jonathan walk this fine line more and more with every coming day – one might even think they dislike leaving their tiny fictional worlds. While actor Boris is delving into the cheating character of his upcoming movie, Jonathan is building a tragic melodrama with two familiar characters on the pages of his novel. In bedrooms, supermarkets and at rehearsals, both partners are feeling reality as if it were an ephemeral piece of cloth – transparent, yet clearly perceptible. How far will they go to escape the unpleasant reality of a relationship at an impasse? In his feature debut, Fabian Stumm, who also portrays Boris, cuts to the bone. He masterfully builds layers of film reality to guide us, in subtle gestures, through an irresistible cluster of romantic experiences and twists. Show more
Switzerland is a country of four languages that have existed side by side in apparent symbiosis for centuries. Until one crazy referendum in which the population votes for only one national language: French. For German- and Italian-speaking Swiss, this is a shock. This includes police officer Walter Egli (56), who is tasked with ensuring a smooth transition to monolingualism. He doesn't speak French himself, and to avoid losing his job, he is forced to take on a thankless mission. He sets off with his unsympathetic French-speaking partner to rebellious Ticino, where they are tasked with infiltrating the resistance that demands the canton's secession from the rest of Switzerland and the preservation of the Italian language. Will they succeed in preventing the declaration of war that the government in Bern is threatening Ticino with? This wacky comedy with spy movie elements pokes fun at stereotypical Swiss traits. Show more
FilmED Kinderklub učí děti od 3 do 6 let přemýšlet o filmu zábavnými a kreativními aktivitami. Program je bilingvní: Naši pedagogové hovoří s dětmi německy a česky. Více informací o pravidelné nabídce zde: Filmový klub pro děti - Goethe-Institut Česko Show more
Erich "Rickerl" Bohacek has been working on his first album for several years. However, he lacks the courage and consistency to write his songs properly and hand them over to his dubious manager. So he wanders around Vienna with his guitar, playing and singing for tips and keeping afloat with odd jobs. His son Dominik has long been living with Erich's ex-girlfriend Viki and her new boyfriend. The chaotic free-thinker Rickerl is constantly throwing sticks at himself. Whether in his sincere efforts to be a good father or to finally make it as a musician. It is only when he is in danger of losing his son for good that he realises he can no longer run away from himself. A melancholic story full of dark humour with songs by Voodoo Jürgens. Show more
Favoriten is an ethnically diverse neighbourhood with a working-class tradition, often described in the media as "the most dangerous neighbourhood in Vienna". The director goes to one of the local primary schools and accompanies a class of children aged seven to ten for three years. For most of them, German is not their first language. Beid, Hafsa, Melissa, Manessa, Mohammad and their classmates literally become co-authors of the film. We get to know the children as distinct personalities and watch them learn, grow and develop. In her signature style, renowned Austrian director Ruth Beckermann creates an ode to childhood and education, asking the burning questions that many of us are searching for answers to. Show more
The film adaptation of the bestselling novel of the same name depicts a young Helena who dreams of a life in the big city and a career as a doctor. However, the death of her lover and, above all, the Second World War put an end to her plans. Robbed of everything she once believed in and what gave her strength, she is forced to embrace a new identity and start anew. A period-accurate historical film about self-determination and the search for light in a time of darkness. Show more
