German Currents 2025

GERMAN CURRENTS 2025
October 17-21, 2025

German Currents, L.A.’s Festival of German Film, returns this fall for its 19th edition, taking place from October 17–21, with screenings at the Aero Theatre, Los Feliz 3, the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles and the Gardena Cinema.

This year’s film selection is a vibrant bouquet: thought-provoking, emotional, tragic, and humorous. You will encounter strong female leads as well as men in search of their own identity. Those drawn to historical narratives will discover fresh perspectives on pivotal moments in German history, while genre fans can also look forward to a debut feature-length science fiction thriller.

This year marks 35 years since the reunification of Germany, the festival reflects on this anniversary not only with the Opening Film TWO TO ONE by Natja Brunckhorst. The motif of freedom seems to run like a common thread through the program: the freedom to be true to oneself, the individual’s freedom within a community, the desire to break free from societal norms – for better or worse, and the courage to risk everything in the pursuit of freedom and justice.

The following actors and filmmakers will attend the festival: actor Ronald Zehrfeld (TWO TO ONE), writer-director Bernhard Wenger (PEACOCK) and director Mariko Minoguchi (DIE ZEIT VERBRECHEN) as festival guests to present their works in person.

For more information and to register for complimentary tickets to this year’s screenings, please click the following link: www.germancurrents.com

The German Currents Film Festival 2025 is a co-production of the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles  and the American Cinematheque, with the support of The Friends of Goethe, ELMA, Condor, The Austrian Consulate General in Los Angeles, Advantage Austria, Tupetz Wine Connection, Paulaner USA, Paulaner Sunset, Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House e.V., the German Film Office, our media partners Deutsche Welle, KPFK Radio, Campus Circle, our educational outreach partners Creating Creators, and in cooperation with the  German Consulate General in Los Angeles.

German Currents 2024

German Currents 2024
October 11 - October 14, 2024

More than just a series of film screenings, the German Currents Film Festival is a platform for cultural exchange, connecting German films and filmmakers with the greater Los Angeles community. The 18th annual festival takes place from October 11th – 14th  with screenings at the American Cinematheque and the Goethe-Institut.

German Currents 2024 opens Friday, October 11th, at the Egyptian Theatre, with the exclusive red-carpet LA premiere of WHEN WILL IT BE AGAIN LIKE IT NEVER WAS BEFORE (Wann wird es endlich wieder so, wie es nie war). This festival favorite by multi-award-winning writer-director Sonja explores the concepts of normality, mental illness, and a hilariously chaotic family life. The film starrs Devid Striesow (ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, THE COUNTERFEITERS, AGE OF CANNIBALS), who shines in his role as director of a psychiatric hospital. A gala reception at the Egyptian Theatre will follow the premiere.

The festival weekend continues with the US premiere of the popular short film showcase NEXT GENERATION SHORT TIGER 2024; the US premiere of director Sarah Neumann’s feature-length film debut, BEYOND THE BLUE BORDER (Jenseits der blauen Grenze), based on Dorit Linke’s best-selling novel and starring Lena Urzendowsky (FRANKY FIVE STAR, Netflix’s DARK, and HOW TO SELL DRUGS ONLINE (Fast)), and writer-director Fabian Stumm’s feature-length film debut, BONES AND NAMES (Knochen und Namen), all presented at the Goethe-Institut.

At the American Cinematheque’s Los Feliz 3 theater, German Currents presents the LA premiere of multi-award-winning cinematographer-director Judith Kaufmann and director Georg Maas’s historical drama THE GLORY OF LIFE (Die Herrlichkeit des Lebens), capturing the final year and romance in the life of writer Franz Kafka, as well as US premiere of writer-director Aslı Özarslan’s ELBOW (Ellbogen), based on the novel “Ellbogen” by Fatma Aydemir. 

Completing the festival program, the annual German Currents children’s matinee returns to the Goethe-Institut on Sunday, October 13th, with a free LA Premiere screening of writer-director Soleen Yusef’s winner of the German Film Award for best Youth and Children’s Film, WINNERS (Sieger sein), that will also be presented as a special invite-only educational screening for LA area schools on Monday, October 14th, at the Gardena Cinema. A discussion with Soleen Yusef following both events is planned.

For more information and to register for complimentary tickets to this year’s screenings, please click the following link: www.germancurrents.com

The German Currents Film Festival 2024 is a co-production of the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles and the American Cinematheque, and is presented in kind cooperation with the German Consulate General, and with the support of Condor, The Friends of Goethe, ELMA, The Villa Aurora, and the German Film Office.

German Currents 2017

11th German Film Festival in Los Angeles
Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood - October 13-16, 2017

Presented by the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles and the American Cinematheque, with the support of German Films, Deutsche Welle, the Friends of Goethe and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, in cooperation with achtung berlin – new berlin film award, the German Consulate General, the Austrian Consulate General and the Consulate General of Switzerland.


OCTOBER 13 - 7:30 PM
OPENING NIGHT FILM

TIGER GIRL
2017, 90 min, Germany, Dir: Jakob Lass

Twenty-something pushover Maggie (Maria Dragus) is desperate to fit in. After failing the Berlin police entrance exams, she settles for training as a security guard, but her passivity constantly lands her in risky situations. Enter Tiger (Ella Rumpf), an assertive, street-smart young woman who gets what she wants - occasionally by violence - and takes Maggie under her wing. Hitting the streets of Berlin in borrowed security uniforms, the unlikely duo aims to correct minor social injustices, but the increasingly self-confident Maggie ultimately takes things a bit too far. Following his own FOGMA manifesto, director Lass’ third feature skillfully blends mostly improvised dialogue with documentary-style camerawork to bring the powerful, action-packed visuals and stylized fight scenes to life in this intelligently edgy “Martial Arthouse” film.

OCTOBER 14 - 5 PM

BEUYS

2017, 107 min, Germany, Dir: Andres Veiel

Thirty years after his death, Joseph Beuys, known worldwide as the man with the hat, the felt and the “Fettecke,” is remembered as a visionary artist. Though his work was once derided in Germany as “the most expensive trash of all time,” Beuys became the first German artist to have a solo exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Comprised of previously unpublished audio and visual material, this Golden Bear-nominated documentary creates an intimate portrait of the artist that opens up spaces for ideas and discussion. Capturing the film’s subject as he boxes, chats, lectures and explains art to a dead hare, Veiel also presents Beuys as a family man, teacher and Green Party candidate, whose contradictions and tensions inspired an expanded concept of art that feeds directly into today’s social, political and moral debates.


OCTOBER 14 - 7:30 PM - DOUBLE FEATURE

TIGER MILK (TIGERMILCH)

2017, 106 min, Germany, Dir: Ute Wieland

Inseparable best friends Nini (Flora Thiemann) and Jameelah (Emily Kusche) live in the same working-class Berlin housing project, attend the same school and love Tiger Milk, a mix of milk, brandy and passion fruit juice. For the rebellious 14-year-olds, the summer means a chance to finally break from the innocence of childhood - partying, falling in love and perhaps finally doing “it.” But one evening, the girls witness a crime that hits so close to home that nothing will be the same again. Wieland’s adaptation of Stefanie De Velasco’s best-selling novel skillfully relays the relevant social tension of the source material and draws performances from the young protagonists that offer an authenticity rarely seen in coming-of-age films.

GOODBYE BERLIN (TSCHICK)

2016, 93 min, Germany, Dir: Fatih Akin

Eighth-grade classmates Maik (Tristan Göbel) and Tschick (Anand Batbileg) are both outsiders; Maik, from a wealthy albeit dysfunctional family, is virtually invisible to his peers, while Tschick, from a poor immigrant family, stands out at school with his loud Hawaiian shirt and rebellious attitude. With his mother in rehab and his father away on a business trip, Maik plans to spend the summer alone at home - but that changes when Tschick appears with a “borrowed” car and a notion to visit his grandfather in Wallachia. Akin’s (HEAD-ON) long-awaited adaptation of Wolfgang Herrndorf’s best-selling cult novel delivers a fresh, youthful perspective on the traditional road movie. The 2017 Bavarian Film Award winner for Best Youth Film.

OCTOBER 15 - 5 PM

EGON SCHIELE – DEATH AND THE MAIDEN

(EGON SCHIELE – TOD UND MÄDCHEN)

2016, 109 min, Austria/Luxembourg, Dir: Dieter Berner

Egon Schiele (Noah Saavedra) was one of the most provocative artists in Vienna at the beginning of the 20th century, his life and work driven by beautiful young women as an era was coming to an end. Two women in particular had a lasting impact on him – his sister and first muse Gerti (Maresi Riegner) and 17-year-old Wally (Austrian Film Award winner Valerie Pachner), arguably Schiele’s one true love, immortalized in his now-famous painting “Death and the Maiden.” This opulent historical drama employs a series of flashbacks to focus on key periods and figures in Schiele’s life, as well as the radical paintings that, despite being recognized as exceptional by both daring artists such as Gustav Klimt and art dealers, scandalized Viennese society. Cinematographer Carsten Thiele flawlessly captures the decadence and vibrancy of turn-of-the-century Vienna.

OCTOBER 15 - 7:30 PM

THE DIVINE ORDER (DIE GÖTTLICHE ORDNUNG)

2017, 96 min, Switzerland, Dir: Petra Volpe

Despite the worldwide social upheavals of the previous decade, Swiss women were still denied the right to vote in 1970. When unassuming and dutiful housewife Nora (Marie Leuenberger) is forbidden by her husband (Maximilian Simonischek) to take a part-time job, her frustration leads her to stand up not only for herself but for her fellow women as well, and she inadvertently becomes the poster child for her town’s suffragette movement. Although her newfound celebrity brings humiliation, threats and the potential end to her marriage, Nora refuses to back down, eventually convincing the women in her village to go on strike - and making some startling discoveries about her own liberation in the process. Supported by a strong ensemble cast and by cinematographer Judith Kaufmann's captivating visuals, writer-director Volpe’s period drama is an inspirational and timely tale about everyday people demanding their right to an equal voice. Switzerland’s official submission for the Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar.

German Currents 2015

9th German Film Festival in Los Angeles

Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood - October 22-25, 2015

Presented by BMW, German Currents is a co-production of the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles and the American Cinémathèque, in cooperation with the German Consulate General, the Austrian Consulate General and the Consulate General of Switzerland, with the support of German Films, Deutsche Welle and the Friends of Goethe.


THURSDAY, OCT. 22 at 7:00 PM

WE ARE YOUNG. WE ARE STRONG.     
WIR SIND JUNG. WIR SIND STARK.

2014, 116 min, Germany, Dir: Burhan Qurbani

                

Three years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, anti-immigrant attacks targeting a refugee shelter on the outskirts of the former East German city of Rostock culminated in the notorious “Night of Fire.” Following three days of violence, nearly 3,000 rioters, neo-Nazis and bystanders set fire to the shelter, trapping Vietnamese refugees and a group of journalists inside. Qurbani’s controversial film recounts the hours leading up to the evening’s startling events as experienced by three very different characters: Lien, a Vietnamese immigrant; Stefan, an insecure young rioter; and Stefan’s father Martin, an ambitious local politician. Qurbani meticulously re-creates the look and feel of the era, when many East German cities struggled with unemployment and feelings of isolation from the West, exposing the complex issue of xenophobia in a country thought to have been healed by German reunification. In German with English subtitles.


FRIDAY, OCT. 23 at 7:30 PM - Double Feature!

JACK

2014, 103 min, Germany, Dir: Edward Berger

 

                

Ten-year-old Jack (Ivo Pietzcker) is frequently left alone by his loving but hopelessly incompetent young mother (Luise Heyer). Forced to care for himself and his 6-year-old half-brother, Manuel (Georg Arms), for extended periods of time, Jack selflessly acts as the head of the household. When Manuel is accidentally injured, Jack is blamed and is placed in a long-term foster care facility, leaving Manuel with their mother. Homesick and bullied by other children, Jack decides to escape and head home to Berlin, only to find that what little order he had established has crumbled. Once again abandoned, the boys take to the streets on a desperate odyssey to find not only their mother but a sense of stability. Co-written by Nele Mueller-Stöfen, Berger’s screenplay and precise direction coax refreshingly unaffected performances from the two child actors. Cinematographer Jens Harant’s camera provides essential gritty realism, capturing the city from the unique vantage point of the lonely boys. In German with English subtitles.

SCHMITKE

2014, 90 min, Germany/Czech Republic, Dir: Stepán Altrichter

                

Like his once state-of-the-art C 174 wind turbine, 57-year-old German engineer Julius Schmitke (Peter Kurth) is past his prime. Intrigued by reports of a hermit known as “Bear-Man” found living alone in the woods, Schmitke begins to dream of deep, dark forests. When a model C 174 breaks down outside a small Czech town on the German border, Schmitke and his subordinate Gruber are sent to repair it, encountering an odd assortment of townspeople and the impenetrable Ore Mountain forest. After Gruber mysteriously vanishes, Schmitke is drawn to the woods. Katharina Grischkowski’s extraordinary sound design contrasts the creaking of the C 174 with the eerie stillness of the forest, heightening the surreal atmosphere provided by Christian Pirjol’s haunting cinematography. Altrichter, who also co-wrote the screenplay, deftly balances the bizarre and the beautiful in this desolate, deadpan comic mystery. In German and Czech with English subtitles.


SATURDAY, OCT. 24 at 5:30 PM

WHO AM I – NO SYSTEM IS SAFE

WHO AM I – KEIN SYSTEM IST SICHER

2014, 110 min, Germany, Dir: Baran bo Odar

                

Young Berlin computer whiz Ben (Tom Schilling) feels more at home in the virtual world than he does in the real one. When the charismatic and revolutionary hacker Max (Elyas M’Barek) asks Ben to put his skills to use and “hack the world,” they form the collective “CLAY” (Clowns Laughing at You). Instead of lofty political goals, the group shocks the world with humor and guerrilla-style pranks. As the team’s popularity drives them to take bigger, bolder risks, they soon attract the attention of the German Secret Service. Just as Ben begins to feel as if he finally belongs somewhere, he’s forced to figure out how to escape not only from law enforcement but from his dangerous new friends. This stylish, surprising and exceptionally timely cyber-thriller moves seamlessly between the real and the virtual, leaving the audience guessing long after the film is over. In German with English subtitles.


SATURDAY, OCT. 24 at 8:30 PM

B-MOVIE: LUST & SOUND IN WEST BERLIN

2015, 92 min, Germany, Dir: Jörg A. Hoppe, Klaus Maeck, Heiko Lange

                

Narrated by music producer Mark Reeder, this essay film is a fast-paced collage of film and TV footage, photos, original interviews and dramatized scenes of the music, art and chaos in West Berlin of the 1980s. The walled-in city was a melting pot for avant-garde and pop cultures unlike anywhere else in Europe, attracting squatters, artists, musicians and world-famous celebrities alike. After leaving Manchester, England, for Berlin in 1979, Reeder found himself at the center of this dynamic cultural hub, crossing paths with such artists as Joy Division, Blixa Bargeld (Einstürzende Neubauten), Nick Cave, Nena and Christiane F. An intimate portrait of the constantly changing cultural constellations of the city, from the Geniale Dilletanten to the Love Parade, ending with the fall of the Berlin Wall. In German and English with English subtitles.

SUNDAY, OCT. 25 at 4:00 PM

AGE OF CANNIBALS

ZEIT DER KANNIBALEN

2013, 93 min, Germany, Dir: Johannes Naber

                

While advising companies on how to maximize profits, cutthroat business consultants Öllers and Niederländer insulate themselves from the dangerous locations where they do business by hunkering down in their various 5-star hotels. When the newly hired Bianca is sent to assist in negotiations, her constant critique of her colleagues’ unscrupulous behavior is unsettling to the executives, who pride themselves on their ability to remain emotionally disconnected. The protagonists reach grotesque extremes within the walls of their hotel, giving Stefan Weigl’s screenplay the feel of a chamber play that’s both darkly comedic and a stinging indictment of contemporary global economics. In German and English with English subtitles.


SUNDAY, OCT. 25 at 6:30 PM - Double Feature!

DORA OR THE SEXUAL NEUROSES OF OUR PARENTS

DORA ODER DIE SEXUELLEN NEUROSEN UNSERER ELTERN

2015, 90 min, Switzerland/Germany, Dir: Stina Werenfels

                

Mentally disabled Dora (Victoria Schulz) has spent much of her 18 years under psychotropic sedation. When her mother, Kristin (Jenny Schily), decides to stop the medication, Dora’s world opens and she begins a relationship with an unscrupulous perfume salesman (Lars Eidinger) eager to take advantage of her newfound lust for life. Dora’s parents are horrified by her relationship and eventual pregnancy, but are determined to both protect their daughter and allow her to make her own choices as an adult. In adapting Lukas Bärfuss’ challenging play, director Stina Werenfels and co-writer Boris Treyer emphasize the parallel struggles of both mother and daughter, examining broader issues of female sexuality and motherhood. Lukas Strebel’s camerawork earned a Cinelab Award for its innovative use of Dora’s point of view. In German with English subtitles.

GRUBER IS LEAVING

GRUBER GEHT

2015, 104 min, Austria, Dir: Marie Kreutzer

                

John Gruber (Manuel Rubey) is the epitome of arrogance; between business trips, nightclubs and countless one-night stands, the dry-witted cynic has little left for anyone else, and that’s how he likes it. But Berlin-based DJ Sarah (Bernadette Heerwagen) turns his self-centered world on its head when, after their night together, she reads him the diagnosis of his recent stomach problems – a tumor. Gruber’s façade quickly crumbles, and with a new regimen of chemotherapy and a growing infatuation with Sarah, Gruber slowly begins to drop his guard. But will he really change? Kreutzer’s faithful adaptation of Doris Knecht’s best-selling novel is strengthened by cinematographer Leena Koppe’s ability to capture Gruber’s darkly comical transition from distant loner to a man finding himself. In German with English subtitles.