Synopsis

September 5 unveils the decisive moment that forever changed media coverage and continues to impact live news today. Set during the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics, the film follows an American Sports broadcasting team that quickly adapted from sports reporting to live coverage of the Israeli athletes taken hostage. Through this lens, September 5 provides a fresh perspective on the live broadcast seen globally by an estimated one billion people at the time.

At the heart of the story is Geoff (John Magaro), a young and ambitious producer striving to prove himself to his boss, the legendary TV executive Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard). Together with German interpreter Marianne (Leonie Benesch) and his mentor Marvin Bader (Ben Chaplin), Geoff unexpectedly takes the helm of the live coverage. As narratives shift, time ticks away, and conflicting rumors spread, with the hostages’ lives hanging in the balance, Geoff grapples with tough decisions while confronting his own moral compass.

Synopsis

Hand drawn in charcoal, this short depicts a young woman stranded on a hotline call. Her surroundings begin to morph and change, exhibiting a surrealist resonance with her feelings of limbo.

This film screens as part of the Animated Shorts: Major Developments program.

Synopsis

Showcasing a diverse mix of animation techniques, the films in this program focus on moments of transition where characters, both relatable and fantastic, make discoveries, face irreversible choices, and navigate outbursts. Featuring work by Loïc Espuche, Michèle Lemieux, Nina Gantz, Delia Hess, Bianca Lambert, Zohar Dvir, Olivia Griselda, Sarah Cheok, and Catapreta.

Leo tries to hide his big secret while still making the most of his summer in the world of Yuck! (Beurk!) (France), where wanting to kiss makes your lips glow. The painstaking pinscreen animation process is used to create a darkly poetic piece about the tragic life of Queen Mariana of Austria as captured by Baroque painter Diego Velázquez in The Painting  (Le tableau) (Canada). In the absurdist stop-motion piece Wander to Wonder (The Netherlands, Belgium, France, United Kingdom), unusual collaborators suffer through the loss of their TV show’s host. The frustration of being trapped in a hotline’s hold system starts to bleed into the physical world in On Hold (Switzerland). After taking more than the recommended dose of cannabis to assuage her fibroid pain, Amanda wades through the voices in her head in Super High: A Period Piece (United States). Carol’s fear of committing to her girlfriend aligns with the onset of unexpected world-changing circumstances in Butterfly Kiss (Germany, Israel). Dona Beatriz Ñsîmba Vita (Brazil) is a surreal and striking portrayal of the political life of African heroine Kimpa Vita, an overshadowed but significant historical figure who initiated the movement to save the Republic of Congo — as well as other parts of central Africa — from Portuguese colonial rule. And when a mail carrier makes a mistake, an unassuming woman enters a vibrant world of otherworldly pleasure in She and Her Good Vibrations (Singapore)

Synopsis

A heist always comes with a certain amount of tension. But what if the spoils of the crime had to be spent quickly as well? A variation on that absurd scenario actually played out in the summer of 1990, when the East German government gave its citizens six days to exchange their old currency for new Deutschmarks as part of the reunification effort. That poses a particular challenge for an unlikely group of thieves, who are sitting on a fortune in soon-to-be-obsolete Ostmarks lifted from a government vault.

Anatomy of a Fall‘s Sandra Hüller leads an all-star cast in Natja Brunckhorst’s breezy crime comedy, with Max Riemelt (Sense 8), Ronald Zehrfeld (Phoenix), and Peter Kurth (A Heavy Heart) rounding out the core ensemble. The film is colored with a sense of nostalgia for the old GDR, which plays out in cheerfully madcap fashion as these socialist citizens suddenly find themselves in very capitalist circumstances.

Synopsis

A bombing in Munich has reverberations throughout the city, setting into motion a chain of events with far-reaching political and personal consequences. Conservative politician Mathlide (Barbara Sukowa, Lola, Rosa Luxembourg, Hannah Arendt) has been a staunch advocate for strict EU border controls to limit migrant populations. When she’s asked to hide Malik (Habib Adda), a young Moroccan who has entered the EU illegally, by close friend and artist Richard (Lambert Wilson, Of Gods and Men, The Matrix series) her ideological and private loyalties collide. When Malik is unjustly identified as a suspect in the bombing, Mathlide’s aide Amina (Banafshe Hourmazdi) begins to question her own allegiances.