“My life is a prison”, Adelina says. The young woman is smoking and looking into the camera, her parents sitting on the sofa to her right and left. In black and white and the narrow 4:3 ratio, this family scene feels oppressive: Adeline spent eleven years under house arrest here, with a father who refuses to accept her identity and a mother who seems loving but powerless. In Georgia, there is neither freedom nor security for trans persons like Adelina. Anti-queer attacks happen in broad daylight; the legal situation of the LGBTQ community has recently deteriorated further. When the protagonist at last leaves her parents’ village to go to Vienna, the style of Rati Tsiteladze’s debut film also changes. The lipstick glows red, the lights of the big city neon yellow. A different, freer life seems possible. But the freedom brings new challenges: financial and health problems, communicating in a foreign language – and loneliness. “A Song Without Home” is the intimate, impressionistic long-term portrait of a person who wants to define herself and clings to an unshakeable conviction: “No law can erase who we are.”

Jan-Philipp Kohlmann

Through numerous video essays in film and media theory, Kevin B. Lee has played a key role in developing the form of the so-called desktop film. The elegant meta-staging reflects the fact that his digital desktop is research tool, media archive and distribution channel at the same time. Lee’s first feature-length film in this style dissects a historical work of propaganda: In 2014, the “Islamic State” terror militia, then at the height of its territorial power, published an elaborately produced film entitled “Flames of War”, which many media outlets compared to the aesthetics of Hollywood blockbusters. Lee manages to abstract and defamiliarize the extreme violence of those images, but comes to the realisation that their ideological power cannot be decoded by the tools of film analysis alone. “Afterlives” broadens the perspective and looks for alternative models in dialogue with experts from the arts, political education and terrorism studies: They reconstruct destroyed cultural assets, develop strategies against extremist radicalisation and study what motivates people to leave terrorist groups. In all this, Lee’s intelligent essay never loses sight of the colonialist western image of the Middle East.

Jan-Philipp Kohlmann

It looks like business as usual deep in the jungle – until one night a lantern lights up and magically attracts countless insects. They fall into a strange trance; even the bat family wake up. While the adults use the bright commotion to hunt, the young bat saves a glowworm, a fly and a moth. The next night, the dangerous light returns. The small bat is determined to try to save her new friends from its spell. A small adventure about friendship and mutual help.

Lina Dinkla

Camille, a very small girl, and the Chameleon who is afraid of heights are inseparable and love to play hide-and-seek in the forest. Camille loves to literally call the tune with her whistling. But one day she becomes too cocky and gives Chameleon an idea that will upset everything. Now they are lost in the green thicket. Can they get over their pride and find each other again?

Lina Dinkla

Sam, a grumpy raccoon, must share a prison cell with Bob, a loveable, but somewhat slow-witted manatee. Their chaotic prison break gradually reveals Sam’s soft core, while Bob remains unfailingly loyal to Sam. Will they manage to escape? Suddenly, that no longer matters so much, since together they have already experienced something much better: solidarity. A cute plasticine animation you will absolutely love.

Lina Dinkla

A tiny fish swims through a huge underwater world. It is loud and hectic at times. He would love nothing better than to hide behind the other fish. Is he too small to see the world as the big ones see it? Drawn in enchanting blue and green watercolours, this animation shows that there is no such thing as too big or too small. And wouldn’t it be lovely if we could all fly up to heaven in a big bubble in the end?

Lina Dinkla

Three butterflies are absorbed in their graceful ballet routine, skilfully turning one pirouette after the other. They ignore the clumsy caterpillar that would really love to dance with them. Only the smallest butterfly reaches out a hand. What a surprise when the caterpillar pupates and hatches! Another episode of the KiKA show “Lenas Farm”.

Lina Dinkla

An animated film made entirely out of black and white paper – and told backwards, too! A white she-dog lives in the root cavity of a mighty tree. But what connects the two? Step by step, the film takes us back to their first encounter, when the dog was still a puppy. An equally unusual and strong friendship that withstands even a massive storm.

Lina Dinkla

Anna is lured outside by a lively flurry of snow. As she wanders through the snow she comes across an unexpected playmate. A snow hare – or is it just her imagination after all? After playing, she settles down comfortably on the sofa with a hot cup of cocoa. A poetic film about the joys of winter, drawn in clear colours.

Lina Dinkla