Courage is the attitude of freedom, and the result of freedom overwhelms the courageous because it surprises him - for it is happiness. (Peter Brückner)
 
Dear festival-goers,
 
Half past five in the morning, the alarm clock rings. You haven't slept a wink all night. Your head is racing and problems are overwhelming. The return to the space of the living obviously is leaving its mark. For a while, the incidental aspects of planning a festival take centre stage. For 1800 kilometres to the east, people who celebrated Christmas together only a few months ago are dying.
 
After a long day with an even longer to-do list and slightly sticky eyes from pollen, a final alarm sounds: Oh boy, twelve hours of madness, death and terror have gone unnoticed. We know the days of problematic behaviour by the "head down" generation, in which twelve hours is half an eternity. So we quickly reach into our pockets for our phones to check the live news for the next tragedy. Some time ago we asked ourselves what life is like at five past twelve. We found it downright perfidious to think that hardly anyone will benefit as much from climate change as autocratic Russia. Now it's five past twelve, we're still standing on both feet and don't know what we should be more afraid of: Global warming or the burgeoning age of extremes. Russia already has both and we wonder who will follow them.
 
Our theme for this year is Freedom. We should take this word and write it on the front of every house, as was done with Liberté in Revolutionary France a few hundred years ago. Why? Because freedom is the most important thing. Not so long ago, it must have been about ten full moons ago, we decided on this theme with breathtaking speed. We wanted to celebrate ourselves for having spent 15 years working freely, self-determinedly and always on the future of film in service of film art. The misuse of this word, which has been rampant for some time, did the rest. Straightening out was the motto, even if the mark we leave on society is the size of an atom.
 
Moreover, we would like to free the film from the shackles of bureaucracy. The eternalism, the stiffening of structures, all that cries out for liberation. That is why we are happy that after several attempts, the 2nd Congress Future German Film - Forum Europe can finally take place within the framework of the 15th Lichter Filmfest. With the grand finale in the Paulskirche, the symbol of freedom and democracy in Germany par excellence.

In this year's edition we are proud to present:

1. Love, Deutschmarks and Death: Opening Film
2. Ascension: International Feature Film Programme
3. Saloum: International Feature Film Programme
4. Alcarràs: International Feature Film Programme
5. Flee: International Feature Film Programme
6. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy: International Feature Film Programme
7. The Worst Person in the World: International Feature Film Programme
8. The Passengers of the Night: International Feature Film Programme
9. Adults in the Room: International Feature Film Programme
10. On the Other Side: International Feature Film Programme
11. The Sacred Spirit: International Feature Film Programme
12. The Employer and the Employee: International Feature Film Programme
13. A Chiara: International Feature Film Programme
14. Venus in Nykes: International Feature Film Programme
15. Shall I Compare You to a Summer’s Day?: International Feature Film Programme
16. Meet Me In The Bathroom: International Feature Film Programme
17. The Middle Ages: International Feature Film Programme
18. A Night of Knowing Nothing: International Feature Film Programme
19. Leonor Will Never Die: International Feature Film Programme
20. Faceless: International Feature Film Programme
21. Beautiful Beings: International Feature Film Programme
22. Fire of Love: International Feature Film Programme
23. Children of the Mist: International Feature Film Programme
24. Starfuckers: International Short Film Programme
25. Freedom Swimmer: International Short Film Programme
26. Soum: International Short Film Programme + Lichter Art Award
27. Blackbirds: International Short Film Programme
28. Rehearsal: International Short Film Programme
29. Agrilogistics: International Short Film Programme
30. Axiom: Future German Cinema Programme
31. Talking About the Weather: Future German Cinema Programme
32. Bloodsuckers: Future German Cinema Programme
33. Come With Me to the Cinema – The Gregors: Future German Cinema Programme
34. A E I O U – A Quick Alphabet of Love: Future German Cinema Programme
35. The Silent Forest: Future German Cinema Programme
36. L’état et moi: Future German Cinema Programme
37. The Death of My Mother: Future German Cinema Programme
38. Als Susan Sontag im Publikum saß: Regional Feature Film Competition
39. Demnächst auf VHS: Regional Feature Film Competition
40. Wettermacher: Regional Feature Film Competition
41. Holy Shit!: Regional Feature Film Competition
42. Model Olimpia: Regional Feature Film Competition
43. Youth Topia: Regional Feature Film Competition
44. The Train Driver: Regional Short Film Competition
45. I Am Leo: Regional Short Film Competition
46. Tearless: VR Storytelling Competition
47. Dislocation: VR Storytelling Competition
48. The Empty Sphere: Lichter Art Award