The programme focuses on a European feature film competition for debut films, a European short film competition with audience voting and the Westfalen Connection with films from the region. There is also a country focus, unique in Germany, with films from the Netherlands and industry events with panel talks and pitching sessions for young filmmakers.
In addition to the German premiere of Alpha. at the festival opening, another Dutch production, Flame by Daphne Lucker, will be shown in Germany for the first time. The mother-daughter drama starring Thekla Reuten and Sophie Lindner is one of eight European directorial debuts in the feature film competition. Also included is the Irish film Christy, which was awarded Best Film in the Generation section at this year’s Berlinale. The coming-of-age story about family ties, belonging and second chances is the first feature film by Brendan Canty, who made a name for himself with the music video for Hozier’s Take Me To Church. With the competition entry The Kingdom, director Julien Colonna tells his own story from the innermost circle of organised crime in Corsica in the nineties. This intimate portrait of a special father-daughter relationship is also a precise depiction of conflicts, some of which continue to the present day and continue to characterise life in Corsica.
The short film competition features 36 films from 15 countries. The selection includes the winner of the German Short Film Award, Fire Drill by Maximilian Villwock, Cannes participants such as the Belgian historical spectacle Loynes by Dorian Jespers and the Estonian stop-motion animation On Weary Wings Go By by Anu-Laura Tuttelberg, which won festival awards in Leipzig, Amsterdam and Brussels after its premiere in Locarno. The experimental essay film Magdalena Hausen – Die gefrorene Zeit, a Greek-German co-production with the voice of Hanna Schygulla, celebrates its German premiere at the Münster Film Festival.
For the sixth time, the Westfalen Connection section is all about films from the region or filmmakers who are connected to Westphalia in very different ways. Several films are celebrating their festival premieres, including the directorial debut Und was ist mit uns? by actress Michelle Barthel, who was a guest jury member at the Münster Film Festival two years ago, and the film Der Moment in dem ich dich ins Herz schloss by Mustafa Khalaf.
Dutch films have been an integral part of the Münster Film Festival since 1999. This year, the selection of current films from the neighbouring country runs through the other festival sections: Jan-Willem van Ewijk’s mountain drama Alpha. at the start, Daphne Lucker’s directorial debut Flame in the feature film competition, as well as Skunk, the new film by Ex Drummer director Koen Mortier, in the late programme. Also in the programme: the poetic and touching documentary Where Dragons Live by Suzanne Raes.
This year’s Nightwatch section is dedicated to the early work of an American indie director who has been celebrated by his fan community for many years: Gregg Araki. His legendary Teen Apocalypse Trilogy with the films Totally Fucked Up (1993), The Doom Generation (1995) and Nowhere (1997) will be shown in three late screenings at the festival.
Two industry days for film will be held in Westphalia on 26 and 27 September: Friday will be dedicated to pitching. In the first session, up-and-coming filmmakers from the region will present their current material to an expert jury, while the second session will showcase treatment material that is being further developed as part of the Filmwerkstatt Münster screenplay class. On Saturday, , together with Kinofest Lünen and Filmbüro NW, a panel for up-and-coming filmmakers from the region will be organised with the title: “Filmnachwuchs im Finanzierungsdilemma – Wege aus der precarären Förderung” and will be followed by a masterclass with Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay and Claus Herzog-Reichel from the Cologne production company filmfaust, whose two current films, Hysteria by Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay and Sirens Call by Miri Ian Gossing & Lina Sieckmann, premiered at this year’s Berlinale.
