Playtime: ca. 120 Min. from 12 years
Venue: Kinopolis Cinema 1 Time: 5:30 PM Date: Saturday, 03/14

International Competition 7

To see and be seen: behind this superficial idiom lies far more than mere vanity. It is the profoundly human need to be recognised and accepted for who we truly are. The antithesis of this recognition is systematic or existential invisibility. Whether through social exclusion or radical loneliness, the fear of remaining unseen touches upon our elementary urge to exist in a meaningful form.

An empty room, paint peeling from the walls. A small window provides the only source of warm light. THE CATCHER has been summoned here on government orders. There are whispers of an invisible, sickening danger. He places a thin-barred cage on the floor, fills a bowl with grain, and sits down beside it to wait. Very faintly, the call of a songbird can be heard amidst the bleakness of the room, yet it remains hidden. This supposed danger is so small it could fit in the palm of a hand, and it will only be seen once: after the invisible bird has been caught, after it has been drowned. A piece of photographic evidence, post mortem. Only the film is capable of capturing the colourful plumage—once the song has already fallen silent.

The curtain rises. There they stand: the dignitaries, lined up in front of a compulsively cheerful, light-blue photo wallpaper. On their heads, they proudly wear the red ceremonial caps bestowed upon them by the government. They stand for history, honour, and hope; the caps and the people, in that order. One should be proud of this honour, insists the garish propaganda of Chinese state television blaring through the small workers’ café. The gentleman at the bar turns the volume up even further; he wants to hear every word. Before him stands a glass of hot water – so hot it steams, and one would hardly dare touch it. But the gentleman is older; he has been served much in his time, and drinking boiling water no longer daunts him. After all, it is well known that drinking water at BOILING POINT prolongs life.

Look behind the facade of reality: where the lines between the lens and the world blur, 52 international competition films await discovery.

International Competition 7

Wassupkaylee

Kaylee Hord, a 17-year-old prank video influencer, is the newest member of a popular TikTok content house where she struggles to fit in and pay the rent.

TO THE MOVIE

To-Go

A desperate dad ruins lunch when he tries to get his daughter to help him pass a drug test.

TO THE MOVIE

Majini

When his father falls ill, a young boy who fears deep water must go out fishing with his brother, while struggling with the pressure placed on him as a young man.

TO THE MOVIE

The Catcher

A lonely young man works for the government as a catcher of invisible birds.

TO THE MOVIE

Hippopotami

In the suburbs of a Chinese city undergoing urbanization, a girl who wants to see animals in the zoo is taken for a ride which will forever change her perspective on life.

TO THE MOVIE

Don´t You Dare Film Me Now

Whilst roaming above the local neighborhood, a drone stumbles upon a person who had hoped no one was watching.

TO THE MOVIE