Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln

6 people researching & experimenting for empowerment in their sexuality – which actions are tempting & helpful to deconstruct shame and be more self-confident?

Student Anna suffers greatly from her constant blushing. It makes her so uncomfortable that she avoids contact with other people as much as possible. But then chance brings her together with Paulina.

Lukas, a young schizophrenic man, has to deal with a new town, a new relationship, and the paranoia in his head.

During a scorching hot summer’s day in Amman, a man prepares for a special meeting. A raw and intimate portrayal of a man in grief, and a city on fire, doomed and in exile, and sinking to hit rock bottom. It plays in the margin of reality, where forces of the masculine and the feminine alternate, merge, attract and repel.

Hercules travels by bicycle from Krefeld on the Lower Rhine to Olympus, the throne of ancient deities. The Hercules myth, as a primal myth of male power, is questioned through biographical reflections and the staging of mythological echoes. The dramaturgical structure of the hero's journey disintegrates in a multi-material perspective into questions about male identity, ideals and remorse.

A surreal take on two people longing to bond through movement. The setting is a bygone velodrome, the Albert Richter track in Cologne. Without words, VELODROME evokes a poetic and eerie liminal space. It portrays a pursuit of communication, a permanent interruption. A moment of encounter without meeting.

David has already endured multiple unsuccessful attempts at detox, and his latest stay in a clinic ends with yet another dropout. Just when he finds a fleeting sense of freedom, his return to addiction is abruptly derailed when all the doors that once were open to him suddenly slam shut. Overwhelmed by debt, he loses his apartment, and his depressed mother withdraws all support as a form of self-protection. He is lacking both money and drugs, and even his social worker, Stefan, only grudgingly allows him to stay overnight — merely with the intent of returning him to rehab the next day. In search of escape, David dives into a night of excess that leads to a monumental blackout.

Oray speaks in a quarrel with his wife Burcu three times 'talaq', the islamic formula for repudiation. The imam informs him about the consequences: he has to divorce his wife. Now Oray is in a dilemma: Should he stay with Burcu or with the community?

When a married woman discovers her husband's addiction to visiting brothels, she decides to start visiting them herself and is quickly swept up into a secret life filled with new sexual discoveries.

A haunted woman named Ida journeys from Germany to Jordan, to an eerie and deserted port town on the Red Sea where her partner, Ismail, recently disappeared. Wandering through desolate bars, hotels, and offices, Ida attempts to feel Ismail’s presence one last time and to say goodbye.

Lea is desperately searching for stability, a warm relationship and a reason for living. But she is floundering. Her life is meaningless, restless and aggressive. A brief encounter with Lukas develops into a closer relationship that takes her on a journey to a forgotten place, where the couple try to find out who they are, and recall a long-lost time.

Anna is pregnant and thinks about castrations. Katinka may not be able to become a farmer and wears her bikini in the milking parlor, but grandma's tomatoes have turned out better this year than ever before. A summer on dying German farms.

In a cold future world everybody who is single drops dead. Which means that Tim - who recently got dumped by his girlfriend - has a serious problem. None of the women he meets at a speed dating event strike a chord with him. His last chance is Denise - or better said a typo called Dennis. As to Tim being straight, hey, there's a pill for that. Or is there?

Two sixteen-year-old boys, Marcos and Johannes, spend their days racing, wrestling, hanging out, watching videos and playing hide-and-seek at nights. A closeness develops between the two of them, which soon starts to become a calamity to their friendship.

Kamilla lives with her mother Gudrun in a remote winery. In addition to the agricultural work of the vineyard, Kamilla takes care of her mother, who is dependent on her help with every movement. When the mysterious Rocco appears, Kamilla hides him from the police and they begin a passionate affair.

Russia in 2000. The end of the post-Soviet era. The province of Ivanovo. The Mironovich family keeps a wake: their youngest son Andrej died in the war. His older brother Anton meets Andrej's last wish: He drives his motorcycle through the city at sunrise. Meanwhile, in love with Anton Vika is raped after the disco. Her mother commits a senseless murder at home. There are no guilty parties.

A young women struggles with boredom while an evil organization is struggling with efficiency.

Friends Toro and Victor struggle with drug addiction and male prostitution in a hostile environment. When they lose all their money, their longstanding friendship is put to the test.

In order to escape an ethnic massacre, four children are leaving their hometown. Each individual is leaving in different ways: with the last train, the last ship, the last plane… walking over the snow-covered mountains.

When his two mature children Anton and Linda start leaving the house, after graduation, father Michael stops taking care of his body. Anton sacrifices his body for a bed-rest-study to contribute to spacetraveling, while Linda is in search of her first sexual experience.