This year, the competition program of the 31st Filmfest Dresden (April 9 to 14, 2019) will consists of 76 films from 38 countries.

In the National Competition, the 29 films offer a kaleidoscope of the latest national short films produced in Germany including the German premiere of SEALAND by Till Giermann from Dresden.

In ARE YOU LISTENING, MOTHER? from Tuna Kaptan (2018), a Kurdish mother deliberately crosses the border the electronic ankle bracelet she is wearing should prevent.  A voiceless male figure is found in Hannes Schilling’s THE PROBAND (2018): Too proud to give up the dream of owning his own home, the unemployed Domenique puts his life at risk due to money problems. Hannes Schilling already came to Dresden in 2018 with AFTER THE PARTY, for which he also received a German Short Film Award nomination.

This year, Filmfest Dresden is again welcoming an array of festival alumni with their latest productions: Dennis Todorovic (2004 with AMOR FATI) is showing in his music video TUTORIAL how actresses master the art of fake tears. Sonja Rohleder, who was awarded the DEFA Promotion Prize in 2014 for WALK THE DOG and who created the festival trailer in 2017, is represented this year with her 2D animation QUIET.

Likewise, two former members of the youth jury in the National Competition have works in the program this year: Steve Bache with his short film THE CAPTAIN and Rebecca Meining, who was DOP on Eileen Byrne’s WHAT REMAINS.

47 films from 37 countries are being screened in the International Competition, including 22 animated films.

The crossing of a traditional border is undertaken, for instance, by the protagonist in Abinash Bikram Shah’s TATTINI (2018, Myanmar, Nepal), who has a fallout with her entire village because she insists on getting her inheritance although she is not entitled to it as a woman. The audiences are confronted with all possible forms of sexuality in the garish Russian animation LAVO (2017) from Sasha Svirsky. In AZUL VAZANTE (2018, Brazil), the director Julia Alquéres explores gender roles and transsexuality on a fine line between the fictional and the documentary. Likewise, the hybrid works ONDES NOIRS from Ismaël Joffroy Chandoutis (2017, France) and THE HYMNS OF MUSCOVY (2018, Russia) from Dimitri Venkov play with formal-aesthetic crossings of borders.

Two films take a creative approach to the horror genre: THE BOOGEYWOMAN (USA, 2018) from Erica Scoggins, which is celebrating its world premiere at the 31st Filmfest Dresden and REAL GODS REQUIRE BLOOD from Moin Hussain (Great Britain, 2018).

Also in the International Competition, the audiences can expect several old friends as well as some big names: Michael Frei, who received a “Golden Horsemen” in 2014 for PLUG & PLAY, is presenting his brand-new film KIDS (2019), which was premiered at this year’s Berlinale. A further returnee is Aggie Pak Yee Lee, who guested in the International Competition last year with MUTEUM and is represented this year with her animated film FIVE STEPS TO THE RIGHT (2017, Estonia).

Apichatpong Weerasethakul from Thailand is an internationally recognized director and artist of exception, not least since he won the Palme d’Or award in Cannes (2010, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives). In Dresden, his short film BLUE (2018, France) is being screened this year. With ACCIDENCE (2018), a further work by the renowned Canadian filmmaker and artist Guy Maddin is running in the International Competition section of the 31st Filmfest Dresden. And the audiences can even look forward to seeing an Oscar candidate with Jeremy Comte’s FAUVE (2018, Canada).

International Competition of 31st FILMFEST DRESDEN

JUCK (THRUST)
Olivia Kastebring, Julia Gumpert & Ulrika Bandeira
Sweden
Fiction / Documentary 2018

TRESPASSERS, BEYOND THE VEIL
Pernille KJÆR
Denmark
Animation 2018

L’ÉTÉ ET TOUT LE RESTE (THE SUMMER AND ALL THE REST)
Sven Bresser
Netherlands
Fiction 2018 German Premiere

DANCING FROG
Jinman Kim
South Korea
Animation 2018

KIDS
Michael Frei
Switzerland
Animation 2019

TATTINI (THE MOON IS BRIGHT TONIGHT)
Abinash Bikram Shah
Burma (Myanmar),
Nepal
Fiction 2018

PATISION AVENUE
Thanasis Neofotistos
Greece
Fiction 2018 German Premiere

MANILA IS FULL OF MEN NAMED BOY
Andrew Stephen Lee
Philippines
Fiction 2018

EGG
Martina Scarpelli
France
Animation 2018

GARDHI (FENCE)
Lendita Zeqiraj
Kosovo
Fiction 2018

COMO Y PORQUE SE HA ESFUMADO DON JOSE (HOW AND WHY DON JOSE DISSIPATED)
Moshe Ben Avraham
Israel
Animation 2018

PLANKTON
Gustaf Lindstrom
United Kingdom
Animation 2018

LITTLE GOAT
Tomoki Misato
Japan
Animation 2018

BLUE
Apichatpong Weerasethakul
France
Fiction 2018 German Premiere

WREN BOYS
Harry Lighton
United Kingdom
Fiction 2017

FIVE STEPS TO THE RIGHT
Aggie Pak Yee Lee
Estonia
Animation 2017

THREE STORIES INSIDE A RENTAL VAN
Lewis Attey
Australia
Fiction 2019

NAKTS PASTAIGAS (NIGHT WALKS)
Lizete Upite
Latvia
Animation 2018

GIMNY MOSKOVII (THE HYMNS OF MUSCOVY)
Dimitri Venkov
Russia
Fiction 2018

FAUVE
Jeremy Comte
Canada
Fiction 2018

BICIKLISTI (CYCLISTS)
Veljko Popovic
Croatia, France
Animation 2018

MUZICKE TRAUME (MUSICAL TRAUMAS)
Milos Tomic
Serbia
Animation 2018

BAGA’T DIRI TUHAY TA’T PAMAHUNGPAHUNG (THE IMMINENT IMMANENT)
Carlo Francisco Manatad
Italy, Philippines, Singapore
Fiction 2018 German Premiere

FLOREANA
Louis Morton
Denmark
Animation 2018 German Premiere

MADNESS
João Viana
France, GuineaBissau, Mozambique, Portugal, Qatar
Fiction 2018

ONDES NOIRES (DARK WAVES)
Ismaël Joffroy Chandoutis
France
Fiction/Animation/Dokumentary 2017

AGHAY E GAVAZN (MR.DEER)
Mojtaba Mousavi
Iran
Animation 2018

O ORFÃO (THE ORPHAN)
Carolina Markowicz
Brazil
Fiction 2018

NA ZDROWIE! (BLESS YOU!)
Paulina Ziolkowska
Poland
Animation 2018

KOLORY LISTOPADA (COLOR OF NOVEMBER)
Tanmay Chowdhary
India, Poland, United States
Fiction 2018

DEBRIS
Keitaro Oshima
Japan
Animation 2018

ACCIDENCE
Guy Maddin
Canada
Fiction 2018

KHAMASTASHAR (FIFTEEN)
Sameh Alaa
Belgium, Egypt
Fiction 2017

APIA (ARIA)
Myrsini Aristidou
Cyprus, France
Fiction 2017

FISHBOY
Anita Bruvere
United Kingdom
Animation 2018

LA MÁXIMA LONGITUD DE UN PUENTE (BIG BRIDGE)
Simón Vélez
Colombia
Fiction 2018

I’M OK
Elizabeth Hobbs
Canada, United Kingdom
Animation 2018

O JEZU (OH GOD)
Betina Bozek
Poland
Animation 2017

REAL GODS REQUIRE BLOOD
Moin Hussain
United Kingdom
Fiction 2017

SOUS LE CARTILAGE DES CÔTES (UNDER THE RIB CAGE)
Bruno Tondeur
Belgium, France
Animation 2018 German Premiere

AZUL VAZANTE (LEAKING BLUE)
Julia Alquéres
Brazil
Fiction 2018

PARESHAN GULLY KA BHAGWAN SIKANDAR (THE GOD OF PANIC STREET)
Ishan Sharma
India
Fiction 2018 World premiere

JUSTE AVANT LA FONTE (JUST BEFORE MELT)
Eve Tayac
France
Animation 2017

THE BOOGEYWOMAN
Erica Scoggins
United States
Fiction 2018

KIIREHESSÄ LIIKKUMATOIN (STILL LIVES)
Elli Vuorinen
Finland
Animation 2018 German Premiere

LAVO
Sasha Svirsky
Russia
Animation 2017

National Competition of 31st FILMFEST DRESDEN

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Alexander
Conrads
Germany
Fiction 2018

RULES OF PLAY
Merlin Flügel
Germany
Animation 2018

DER PROBAND Hannes
Schilling
Germany
Fiction 2019

QUIET
Sonja Rohleder
Germany
Animation 2019 German premiere

ARE YOU LISTENING, MOTHER?
Tuna Kaptan
Germany, Turkey
Fiction 2018

TUTORIAL
Dennis Todorovic
Germany
Fiction 2018

AM CU CE – MEIN GANZER STOLZ
Hannah Weissenborn
Germany
Fiction 2019

ARMED LULLABY
Yana Ugrekhelidze
Germany
Animation 2018 World premiere

ROT, ROT, ROT
Jade Li
Germany
Fiction 2019

NOTIZEN AUS DEM UNTERBEWUSSTSEIN
Susann Arnold
Germany
Animation 2018

NACHTSCHICHT
David Dybeck
Germany
Fiction 2018

CARLOTTA’S FACE
Valentin Riedl
Germany
Animation 2018

F FOR FREAKS
Sabine Ehrl
Germany
Fiction 2019

MOONJUMP
Lasse Holdhus
Germany
Fiction 2018 World premiere

SEALAND
Till Giermann
Germany
Animation 2018 German premiere

OHNE EUCH
Hannah Martin, Melanie Waelde
Germany
Fiction 2018 World premiere

FUSE
Shadi Adib
Germany
Animation 2018