Dear Readers,

With the fourth issue of GFQ, we are now entering the last quarter of the year. But we can already see that 2025 has been a very successful one. The presence of German productions and co-productions at international festivals increased once again over the summer.

The German productions WITH HASAN IN GAZA by Kamal Aljafari, PHANTOMS OF JULY by Julian Radlmaier and DRY LEAF by Alexandre Koberidze attracted considerable attention when they screened in competition at the Locarno Film Festival. Locarno was also the beginning of a successful festival tour for the German-American production DEAD OF WINTER.

Joscha Bongard‘s debut feature BABYSTAR celebrated its world premiere in Toronto, and Mascha Schilinski‘s SOUND OF FALLING kicked off its Oscar® campaign as Germany’s entry for the Best International Feature Film category when it had its North American premiere in Toronto.

This year again saw German cinema with a remarkable line-up of a total of 21 German productions and co-productions being screened in Venice. The competition entry SILENT FRIEND by Ildikó Enyedi also won several awards, including for Best Actress (Luna Wedler) and the film critics’ FIPRESCI Prize.

The documentary festivals in Ji.hlava, Leipzig and Amsterdam are being held in the last quarter. Not all of the line-ups have yet been officially announced, but several German productions will be screened there as well.

The large presence of German films also continues at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, one of the largest A-category festivals in autumn. Nearly 30 German productions and co-productions will be shown in the various sections. They include Thomas Stuber’s THE FROG AND THE WATER in the Main Competition. You can read a portrait of the director in this issue. EASY GIRL by Hille Norden has been programmed in the First Feature Competition. Dana Herfurth plays the lead role in the drama. The director and actress also speak in this issue of GFQ about how they approached this challenging subject matter. And Tallinn is also presenting Schiwago Film’s production of THANKS FOR NOTHING by Stella Marie Markert in the International Youth Competition. The film’s producers Martin Lehwald and Marcos Kantis will be featured in another portrait in this issue.

A subject that was constantly uppermost in people’s minds during 2025: the German Film Law and its pending reforms. In his article ‘The Journey to the First German Film Law,’ author Martin Blaney looks back on the history, emergence and development of different versions of the film funding legislation in Germany.

We are looking forward to the last three months of an eventful year and to the premieres of the German films at the upcoming festivals.

Simone Baumann, Managing Director