Competition Films at the 37 Filmfest Dresden

67 Short Films from 34 Countries in International, National and Central German Competitions // 22 Premieres // 17 Awards with Prizemoney Totalling €70,500

A total of 67 short films from 34 countries have been invited to contend in the three competition sections of the 37 Filmfest Dresden (running from 8 to 13 April 2025). From the 3,400 films submitted, the Selection Committees chose 35 (co-)productions for the International Competition, 24 shorts for the National Competition and eight works in the Central German Competition. The films screening in the competitions include a total of 22 premieres. With the new Audience Award in the Central German Competition (endowed with €500), the works are now vying for 17 “Golden Horsemen” and special prizes – for total prizemoney reduced to €70,500 this year due to budget cutbacks. Parallel to the competition programmes, the festival week features an extensive and diverse range of special programmes focusing on the theme of solidarity this year. More than 350 films overall are being screened at this year’s Filmfest. The complete programme of the 37 Filmfest Dresden will be announced at the Press Conference on 18 March 2025 in the Schauburg Dresden festival cinema.

The Stats: Powerful Animated Works, 22 Premieres, Films from Cuba, Panama, China, etc. & more Independent Productions

By tradition, animated films and hybrid works are a permanent feature in the Filmfest’s competition sections. This is reflected especially in the National Competition: With animated films making up a significant proportion here, accounting for half of the 24 entries. In the International Competition, Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel are presenting their forceful animation THE EXPLODING GIRL which was nominated for the 2024 European Film Awards. They were already represented at the 30 Filmfest Dresden in 2018 with AFTER SCHOOL KNIFE FIGHT. This year’s National Competition comprises an impressive array of new, powerful and expressive auteur works in the artistic animated film section – especially from female directors. These include Zohar Dvir (BUTTERFLY KISS, Germany/Israel 2024), Julia Jesionek (EVERYTHINGNESS, Germany 2024), Sofija Zivkovic (DO SOMETHING, Germany 2024) and Shadab Shayegan (PEAR GARDEN, Germany 2024), among others. In the Central German Competition, a diverse stylistic range is being screened, focusing mainly on documentary formats, with a tendency for experimental documentaries and film essays, such as HELA ET AL. from Tess Marschner.

In the competition sections as a whole, 22 premieres are running, including one world premiere, 19 German premieres and two international premieres. Celebrating its world premiere in Dresden will be the dffb film-school production LAST CALL BLUE by Tillmann Betz (National Competition). Among the works celebrating their German premiere are the French-Lebanese co-production 2006 from Gabriella Choueifaty (International Competition), LES RITES DE PASSAGE by Johannes Krell and Florian Fischer (National Competition), ALTERING EGO from Caspar Michel Wallrabe (Central German Competition) and MÖBELHAUS SEXY from Nina Hoffmann (Central German Competition).

Overall, the films vying in the competition sections come from 34 (co-)production countries. In the International Competition, works are being screened from countries such as Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Panama, the Philippines, Singapore, China and many more. Likewise in the National Competition, international production networks are prevailing – including four films made as co-productions, these including with Israel, Vietnam, Greece.

All three competition sections have a well-balanced ratio of female and male (co-)directors and directors. This is in addition to the three non-binary directors represented in the International Competition.

In the National Competition, the independent productions consisting of 14 films outnumber the 10 works competing from film schools – including the Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf, the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (dffb), the Film Academy Baden-Wuerttemberg and the KHM Academy of Media Arts Cologne. In the Central German Competition, independent productions account for half of the films being screened.

Themes: War & Crises, Grief, (Queer) Identity(ies)

The current political situation globally is powerfully reflected in this year’s competition films. The war in the Ukraine especially is the subject of numerous works: In the National Competition, UNWANTED KINSHIP from Pavel Mozhar (2024 Berlinale Shorts) and FIRE DRILL by Maximilian Villwock (2024 German Short Film Award) explore its impacts. In the International Competition, I DIED IN IRPIN from Anastasiia Falileieva (Czech Republic 2024) and THOUGHTS AND PEACE IN AN AIR RAID from Vyacheslav Turyanytsya (Ukraine, Netherlands 2024) focus on the war there.

Likewise, the conflict in the Middle East is reflected in the films selected: The short fiction film 2006 by Gabriella Choueifaty (France, Lebanon 2024) is set in the 2006 Lebanese war and reveals disturbing parallels to the current situation in the region. In his short hybrid documentary SOF MA'ARAV (France 2024) the Israeli filmmaker Yotam Ben-David explores his life in French exile and the waning traditions of his homeland.

Sophie Mühe’s documentary SOCIAL CLUB screening in the Central German Competition addresses racism and society’s shift to the right while building a bridge at the same time to the festival’s central focus on solidarity. Mühe accompanies the Chemnitz soccer club Athletic Sonnenberg, which sets a clear signal against exclusion and right-wing extremism – and at the same time promotes diversity and openness in a city that has repeatedly been the focus of social debate.

The subject of grief and loss also permeates numerous works being screened. In the International Competition, RUBY ALIA RITCHY from Mika Baudoux recounts the situation of young people living in shared accommodation during the pandemic and deals with the loss of a friend. Likewise, A BIRD FLEW (Columbia/Cuba 2024, 2024 Berlinale Generation) from Leinad Pájaro De la Hoz is devoted to the grief felt from the death of a friend, exploring the emotional traces this leaves behind.

Further central themes in the films include the human body and (queer) identities. In the Central German Competition, Tess Marschner reflects in HELA ET AL. on reproductive bodies, while linking science and cinematic art impressively doing so. In the National Competition, the animated film DO SOMETHING from Sofija Zivkovic and PIROUETTE by Anne Oren explore the subject of the human body. The female protagonist of the auto-fictional animated short EVERYTHINGNESS from Julia Jesionek (National Competition) heads off in search of identity and reliable truths. Contrasting this, the Canadian film GENDER REVEAL from Mo Matton (Canada, International Competition) is less of a traditional coming-out story, and focuses instead on self-empowerment, everyday life and the fantasies of a sci-fi world.