BERLIN & BEYOND March 19-23, 2026

[Chris Knipp]

BERLIN & BEYOND March 19-23, 2026

2026 FILMS

FESTIVAL WEBSITE

FILMLEAF FESTIVAL COVERAGE



OPENING NIGHT FILM
Köln 75
San Francisco Premiere
Directed by Ido Fluk
Starring Mala Emde, John Magaro, Michael Chernus, Alexander Scheer, Ulrich Tukur, Jördis Triebel

Based on a true story, Köln 75 reveals the hidden history behind Keith Jarrett’s legendary, 1975 improvised concert, which became the best-selling solo jazz album in history. The film follows teenage promoter Vera Brandes (Mala Emde) as she tirelessly organizes the event and convinces a reluctant Jarrett (John Magaro) to perform despite pulling out after the Bösendorfer Imperial Grand piano he was promised was nowhere to be found. (112 min. Germany / 2025. German with English subtitles) View Trailer

Showtimes:
– Castro Theatre, SF – March 19 at 6:00 PM – Buy Tickets
– Rialto Elmwood, Berkeley – March 22 at 1:45 PM – Buy Tickets
Special Guests: Mala Emde (Actor), Ido Fluk (Director)

GOETHE FORUM
No Beast. So Fierce. (Kein Tier. So Wild.)
US Premiere
Directed by Burhan Qurbani

In this visually atmospheric reimagining of Richard III, Burhan Qurbani transplants Shakespeare’s tragedy to modern Berlin, following a crime family’s youngest daughter as she brutally schemes and murders her way to the top of a patriarchal underworld, only to be haunted by the trauma of her past. (142 min. Germany, Poland, France / 2025. German and some Arabic with English subtitles) View Trailer

Showtime: SFMOMA’s Phyllis Wattis Theater – March 21 at 6:15 PM – Buy Tickets
Special Guest: Burhan Qurbani (Director)

KREATOR – Hate & Hope
Documentary Film
North American Premiere
Directed by Cordula Kablitz-Post

Kreator – Hate & Hope chronicles the legendary German band’s forty-year journey from their founding as a school band in 1982 in the Ruhr area to global thrash metal dominance. Through world tour footage and intimate interviews, the film explores how their uncompromising poetry of chaos serves as a cathartic musical weapon against societal hatred. (110 min. Germany / 2025. German and English with English subtitles) View Trailer

Showtime: SFMOMA’s Phyllis Wattis Theater – March 21 at 3:30 PM – Buy Tickets

CINEMA PANORAMA
Amrum
NorCal Premiere
Directed by Fatih Akin
Starring Diane Kruger, Laura Tonke, Jasper Billerbeck, Lisa Hagmeister

In the waning days of WWII on a remote German island, 12-year-old Nanning’s idyllic innocence is shattered when his father’s impending return and the reality of Germany’s defeat reveal that the true enemy resides within his own community. (93 min. Germany / 2025. German with English subtitles) View Trailer

Showtime: SFMOMA’s Phyllis Wattis Theater – March 21 at 1:00 PM – Buy Tickets

Bad Painter
NorCal Premiere
Directed by Albert Oehlen
Starring Udo Kier, Kim Gordon, Charlotte Taschen

Albert Oehlen deconstructs the artist’s portrait by blurring reality and artifice. Directed by Oehlen from behind the lens, Udo Kier plays the artist in a fictionalized version of Oehlen’s own life, while Kim Gordon provides the “inner voice.” Together, they navigate the friction between creative motivation and an all-consuming art world. (80 min. Germany, USA / 2025. English and some German with English subtitles) View Clip

Showtime: Castro Theatre, SF – March 19 at 3:00 PM – Buy Tickets

Blind at Heart (Die Mittagsfrau)
NorCal Premiere
Directed by Barbara Albert
Starring Mala Emde, Max von der Groeben, Thomas Prenn, Liliane Amuat, Fabienne Elaine Hollwege, Eli Wasserscheid

Adapted from Julia Franck’s bestseller, Blind at Heart is a sweeping historical epic starring Mala Emde as a resilient woman navigating love, loss, and the oppressive gender roles of Nazi-era Germany to make a life-altering choice for her own agency. (136 min. Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg / 2024. German with English subtitles) View Trailer

Showtime: Vogue Theater, SF – March 20 at 7:30 PM – Buy Tickets
Special Guests: Mala Emde (Actor), Thomas Prenn (Actor)

The Frog and the Water (Der Frosch und das Wasser)
North American Premiere
Directed by Thomas Stuber
Starring Aladdin Detlefsen Kanji Tsuda Bettina Stucky Cornelius Schwalm Yuki Iwamoto, Meltem Kaptan

Escaping his rigid assisted living routine, a non-verbal man named Buschi joins a Japanese tour group across Germany, where he forms a profound silent bond with a fellow traveler. (100 min. Germany / 2025. German and some Japanese with English subtitles) View Trailer

Showtime: Rialto Elmwood, Berkeley – March 23 at 1:45 PM – Buy Tickets

A Land Within (Zweitland)
Northern California Premiere
Directed by Michael Kofler
Starring Thomas Prenn, Aenne Schwarz, Laurence Rupp, Francesco Acquaroli, Andrea Fuorto

Set in 1961, this historical drama explores ethnic tensions in South Tyrol, where a German-speaking minority’s separatist bombings shake the region and strain family bonds. (112 min. Germany, Italy, Austria / 2025. German and some Italian with English subtitles) View Trailer

Showtime: Rialto Elmwood, Berkeley – March 22 at 4:45 PM – Buy Tickets
Special Guest: Thomas Prenn (Actor)

Miroirs No. 3
NorCal Special Preview
Directed by Christian Petzold
Starring Paula Beer, Barbara Auer, Matthias Brandt, Enno Trebs

After surviving a traumatic car crash, a young pianist finds refuge with a local family, forming a healing but fragile bond that is soon threatened by the stirring ghosts of their collective pasts. (86 min. Germany / 2025. German with English subtitles) View Trailer

Showtime: Rialto Elmwood, Berkeley – March 23 at 6:45 PM – Buy Tickets

Red Stars Upon the Field (Rote Sterne überm Feld)
North American Premiere
Directed by Laura Laab
Starring Hannah Ehrlichmann, Jule Böwe, Hermann Beyer, Andreas Döhler, Jenny Schily

Laura Laabs’ innovative four-act drama follows a young activist as she unearths a century of German history through a mysterious moorland skeleton, bridging the Wehrmacht, GDR, and RAF eras to confront her own hidden past. (93 min. Germany / 2025. German with English subtitles) View Trailer

Showtime: SFMOMA’s Phyllis Wattis Theater – March 21 at 10:00 AM (morning) – Buy Tickets

SWISS FILM & TALKS
I’m Not Stiller (Stiller)
US Premiere
Directed by Stefan Haupt
Starring Albrecht Schuch, Paula Beer, Sven Schelker, Marie Leuenberger, Stefan Kurt

Based on the novel by Max Frisch: When American traveler James White is arrested at the Swiss border in 1950, he must maintain his identity against police and an estranged wife convinced he is actually Anatol Stiller, a communist sculptor who vanished years prior. (99 min. Switzerland & Germany / 2025. German with English subtitles) View Trailer

Showtime: Vogue Theater, SF – March 20 at 5:00 PM – Buy Tickets

YOUTH 4 GERMAN CINEMA 2026 WINNER
22 Lengths (22 Bahnen)
North American Premiere
Directed by Mia Maariel Meyer
Starring Luna Wedler, Jannis Niewöhner, Zoë Baier, Laura Tonke, Luis Pintsch

Based on the bestselling novel by Caroline Wahl: Tilda’s chance to escape her suffocating life and alcoholic mother through an academic opportunity and a new romance is jeopardized when her volatile home life spirals out of control. (102 min. Germany / 2025. German with English subtitles) View Trailer

Showtimes:
– Castro Theatre, SF – March 19 at 10:30 AM – No Tickets Available: Invited Schools Only
– Rialto Elmwood, Berkeley – March 23 at 4:00 PM – Buy Tickets

JUNIOR (FAMILY MATINÉE)
Greetings from Mars (Grüsse vom Mars)
Berkeley Premiere
Directed by Sarah Winkenstette
Starring Theo Kretschmer, Lilli Lacher, Anton Noltensmeier, Hedi Kriegeskotte, Michael Wittenborn, Eva Löbau

Coping with his mother’s absence, 10-year-old Tom—an autistic boy with a passion for space—transforms a trip to his grandparents’ house into a “mission to Mars,” leading to a remarkable discovery. (85 min. Germany / 2024. German with English subtitles) View Trailer

Showtime: Rialto Elmwood, Berkeley – March 22 at 10:15 AM (morning) – Buy Tickets

SHOWTIMES
Thursday, March 19: The Castro Theatre, San Francisco
10:30 AM: 22 Lengths (by invitation only) 102 min. + Q&A
3:00 PM: Bad Painter 80 min. – Buy Tickets
6:00 PM: Köln 75 112 min. + Opening Ceremony & Q&A – Buy Tickets

Friday, March 20: Vogue Theater, San Francisco
5:00 PM: I’m Not Stiller 99 min. – Buy Tickets
7:30 PM: Blind at Heart 136 min. + Q&A – Buy Ticket

Saturday, March 21: SFMOMA’s Phyllis Wattis Theater, San Francisco
10:00 AM: Red Stars Upon the Field 133 min. – Buy Tickets
1:00 PM: Amrum 93 min. – Buy Tickets
3:30 PM: KREATOR – Hate & Hope 110 min. – Buy Tickets
6:15 PM: No Beast. So Fierce. 142 min. + Q&A – Buy Tickets

Sunday, March 22: Rialto Cinemas® Elmwood, Berkeley
10:15 AM: Greetings from Mars 85 min. – Buy Tickets
1:45 PM: Köln 75 112 min. + Q&A – Buy Tickets
4:45 PM: A Land Within 112 min. + Q&A – Buy Tickets

Monday, March 23: Rialto Cinemas® Elmwood, Berkeley
1:45 PM: The Frog and the Water 100 min. – Buy Tickets
4:00 PM: 22 Lengths 102 min. + Q&A – Buy Tickets
6:45 PM: Miroirs No. 3 86 min. – Buy Tickets

2026 San Francisco FestPass: Buy FestPass
(Each pass admits one person to: Castro Theatre festival screenings on March 19 with priority entry, but not including Youth 4 German Cinema; main feature films at Vogue Theater on March 20 and SFMOMA’s Phyllis Wattis Theater on March 21):
$200.00 general / no discounts

[Chris Knipp]

BERLIN & BEYOND March 19-23, 2026

2026 FILMS

LINKS TO REVIEWS
BAD PAINTER (Albert Oehlen 2025)
KÖLN 75 (Ido Fluk 2025)
KREATOR – HATE & HOPE (Cordula Kablitz-Post 2025)
MIROIRS NO. 3 (Christian Petzold 2025)
ZWEITLAND (Michael Kofler 2025)