The highly recommended DOXA Film Festival is back and has a large selection of films with a German connection, German productions and co-productions. As always, the program is definitely worth a look - regardless of whether it's a German film or not.

in retrospect

15 mins | Germany | 2025

Migrant labour built Munich’s Olympia shopping center for the 1972 Olympics. Decades later, the same site became the stage for a racist mass shooting. Layering archival footage, silence, and excerpts from the work of Iranian filmmaker Sohrab Shahid Saless, in retrospect confronts the repeating cycles of xenophobia and violence in history.

Correct Me If I'm Wrong 如你所愿

23 mins | Germany, USA | 2025

A southwest Chinese family seeks to purge an unwanted “Demon Girl” from its queer heir. In this intimate self-portrait, filmmaker Hao Zhou documents their journey through enduring rituals and public humiliation to appease their mother and grandmother, presenting an emotional look at the confluence of superstition, familial love, cultural pressure, and belief in one’s own truth.

Direct Action

213 mins | Germany, France | 2024

Activists, farmers, and squatters turn resistance into a way of life in Notre-Dame-des-Landes, France. Occupying land to block an airport expansion project, they create the “Zone to Defend” (ZAD). Direct Action immerses us in this radical experiment, where community and confrontation exist side by side. Shot on 16mm, Ben Russell and Guillaume Cailleau capture the rhythms of life—baking bread, celebrating children’s birthdays, plowing fields—alongside clashes with police and the threat of eviction.

Through the lives of its central figures, the film reveals how collective action can challenge systems of power. Winner of the Berlinale’s 2024 Encounters Award, Direct Action is both a gripping documentation of protest and a meditation on the possibilities of communal life.

The Pickers

80 mins | Germany, Portugal, Greece | 2024

From Italy to Spain, Greece to Portugal, The Pickers follows the migrant workers who keep Europe’s farms running—without contracts, fair wages, or basic rights. Many live in makeshift camps without water or electricity, trapped in a cycle of debt and exploitation. Seydou from Mali picks oranges in Italy, Naveed from Pakistan has spent eight years harvesting olives in Greece without papers, and Bahija from Morocco works in Spain under a contract that still denies her a fair wage. Through candid testimonies and stark contrasts between idyllic supermarket produce and the hidden suffering behind it, the film exposes the systematic exploitation at the root of Europe’s agricultural supply chain.

Silent Observers

96 mins | Bulgaria, Germany | 2024

In a remote Bulgarian village superstition reigns, revealed through the lives of six animals: A cat feared to be vampire, a donkey believed to be bewitched, and a dog blamed for killing chickens. Silent Observers immerses us in the world of animals, blurring the line between documentary and folk horror. With minimal dialogue and a strong sensory presence, Eliza Petkova captures how ancient beliefs continue to shape the present. The animals’ roles remain unhumanized, allowing their presence to expose the community’s complex relationship with myth, survival, and unseen forces that linger in the shadows.

Bogancloch

86 mins | UK, Iceland, Germany | 2024

For over 40 years, Jake Williams has lived alone in Scotland’s Clashindarroch Forest, his days shaped by the rhythms of nature. Bogancloch marks Ben Rivers’ third film with Williams, revisiting their long-running collaboration after Two Years at Sea (2011) and an earlier short. Shot on Black and White 16mm, the film drifts between quiet observations, immersing us in a constant yet ever-evolving solitude. Though Williams’ world feels removed from modern life, fleeting encounters—with hikers, children, and the changing landscape—hint at subtle shifts. With a patient and unobtrusive gaze, Bogancloch captures a life defined by resilience, routine, and gradual transformation.