Dear Readers,

Great joy at the Berlinale: the political drama YELLOW LETTERS by İlker Çatak won the Golden Bear for Best Film at the festival’s 76th edition in February. This was the first time in 20 years that a German film had won the competition’s top prize in Berlin. In addition, German actress Sandra Hüller was awarded a Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance for her role in the film ROSE. But it wasn’t just the awards that gave cause for celebration. German cinema was represented in all its diversity with 80 productions and co-productions screening in the various sections, including 56 majority German films. In addition, a German production, NO GOOD MEN, had the honour of opening the festival. This issue of GFQ has an interview with the director Shahrbanoo Sadat speaking about the conditions and circumstances under which she directed this film.

The German entry may not have been selected to the final five nominees in the ‘International Feature Film’ category at the 98th Academy Awards® this year. However, German co-productions and German filmmakers did receive a nomination. The German VFX supervisors Michael Ralla and Guido Wolter, who were nominated for “Visual Effects” in the film SINNERS, speak in this issue about their experiences in the international film industry.

Congratulations go to the German co-production MR. NOBODY AGAINST PUTIN which won the Oscar® in the “Documentary Feature Film” category.

Spring is once again dominated by the Festival de Cannes. The festival’s 79th edition will be held on the Croisette from 12 to 23 May. Following Mohammad Rasoulof’s THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG in 2024 and Mascha Schilinski’s SOUND OF FALLING last year, 2026 will be the third year in a row that a majority German production - Valeska Grisebach’s THE DREAMED ADVENTURE – is competing for the Golden Palm. Meanwhile, the German director Volker Schlöndorff will be returning to Cannes with the world premiere of his film VISITATION in the Cannes Première section. And Katharina Rivilis is making her debut as a feature film director with I’LL BE GONE IN JUNE in Un Certain Regard. This sidebar will also be presenting the majority German production ELEPHANTS IN THE FOG by Abinash Bikram Shah, and the film’s editor Andrew Bird is being profiled in this magazine. Short films are also represented in other sections, with DAUGHTERS OF THE LATE COLONEL by Elizabeth Hobbs screening in the Quinzaine des Cinéastes, and VATERLAND OR A BULE NAMED YANTO by Berthold Wahjudi showing in the Semaine de la Critique.

German Films is also presenting the best German short films during the festival in Cannes for the 16th time as part of the “Next Generation Short Tiger” programme. The filmmakers featured in this programme have long been addressing the complexities of the present through their diverse visual ideas, perspectives and approaches. We are delighted that this year’s Cannes will once again serve as a platform for the selected shorts and kick-off the programme’s tour.v German Films will once again have a presence along with the FFA, the BKM and Focus Germany at the German Pavilion in the Village International Riviera, with the venue serving as a meeting place for filmmakers.

Simone Baumann, Managing Director