Numerous filmmakers will be guests for film talks. On Saturday, 20 September, Irish actor Diarmuid Noyes is expected to present the film Christy in the European First Feature Film Competition. On Sunday, 21 September, the Austrian actress Mariya Menner from the film Wenn du Angst hast nimmst du dein Herz in die Hand und lächeln will be a guest.
The complete European Short Film Competition runs on the first festival weekend (20.9. & 21.9.) with 36 films from 15 countries in 6 programmes. Around 20 filmmakers will accompany the screenings of their short works. In the Westfalen Connection section, in which 18 films from the region will be shown in four programmes on 26.9. and 27.9., the filmmakers will also be present for almost all of the competition entries.
Film guests will be connected online to the Schloßtheater for three other films in the feature film competition. On 23 September, Ladina von Frisching, the lead actress of the Max Ophüls Prize-winning film Impatience of the Heart, will answer questions from the audience. On 24 September, Indian actress Shahana Goswami, lead actress in the British Oscar entry Santosh, will be a guest via video link. And on 25 September, Brwa Vahabpour, the director of the Norwegian film My Uncle Jens, will be connected live to the Schloßtheater.
On 27 September, the Filmwerkstatt Münster, the Filmbüro NW and the Netzwerk Filmkultur NRW are hosting a panel discussion entitled Filmnachwuchs im Finanzierungsdilemma – Wege aus der precarären Förderung, with Jennifer Stahl (Produktionsallianz Campus), directors Katharina Huber and Jacqueline Jansen and Mariana Schneider (Hessen Film & Medien), among others. This will be followed by a masterclass with Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay and Claus Herzog-Reichel, who will present their new film Hysteria the evening before.
Also on 27 September, Belgian actor Thibaud Dooms, lead actor in Koen Mortier’s Skunk, will be a guest. On 28 September, director Suzanne Raes will present her touching documentary Where Dragons Live.
