
Polarized
By Shamim Sarif
2023 | 104 min | Queer
Two women, two worlds – and a love that transcends boundaries. Their relationship defies prejudice, religion, and social pressure.


By Shamim Sarif
2023 | 104 min | Queer
Two women, two worlds – and a love that transcends boundaries. Their relationship defies prejudice, religion, and social pressure.

2019 | 66 min | Documentary
What happens when a very popular village priest decides after 27 years of successful community work to finally face a lifelong issue and publicly announces his transgender identity? The rumors that he was wearing women's clothes forces pastor Hans-Gerd Spörkel to take a break. Shortly thereafter, his wife separates from him, and the village turns their backs on him. Half a year later, she resolutely returns as Elke Spörkel and holds her first service as a woman. After a controversial discussion, ...

2022 | 90 min | Documentary
In the heart of Vienna, a pioneering initiative funded by the EU and spearheaded by the city itself embarked on a mission to foster integration among refugees and newcomers, guiding them through the maze of a new cultural landscape. LIVING TOGETHER, directed by Thomas Fürhapter, delves into this intricate process, portraying the lives intertwined in this communal learning journey. The film, through the lens of Judith Benedikt and Klemens Koscher, captures the essence of adaptation, camaraderie, and ...

2021 | 26 min | Drama
Caught between German stuffiness and Argentinian religiosity, Madi discovers her own sexuality. Madi and her sister Lucia grow up with their Catholic Argentinian mother and their pragmatic German father. The matriarch Dolores loses herself in clichés while their father August pursues his stereotypical role as breadwinner. When Dolores has to spend a long time in hospital for inexplicable reasons, her father takes over the running of the household and is not only overwhelmed with the two adolescent ...

2012 | 26 min | Drama
At the centre of this film is a young transperson, his question about his own identity and his desire to belong - even if you deviate slightly from the norm. Alicia (Ekaterina Tafel) is 15 years old and lives at a group home for youth with special needs. She wants to become a singer and longs for recognition. One day, a new teen, Mika, is seated at the dinner table. Alicia notices that this boy not only pays attention to her, but is also somehow different. A flirtation begins, but when Alicia walks ...

2009 | 64 min | Documentary
This ambitious directorial debut chronicles lesbian lifestyles and social networking in Vienna in the 1950s and 60s. In those years, Vienna was a drab and traditional place. The scene - if it existed at all - was male- oriented, and the few bars where women did meet were not particularly inviting. Lesbian life was characterized by invisibility and, if anything, was criminalized. Three eyewitnesses of that era talk in an eloquently and refreshingly (self-)ironic way about what it was like to feel ...

2024 | 90 min | Documentary
ANGRY SPIRITS follows Ainur, a young Mongolian erotic dancer in Ulaanbaatar, as nightmares and a growing sense of illness leave her feeling lonely and uprooted. She believes evil spirits may be taking hold of her, and the film opens on her search for relief and direction. Guided by shamans, Ainur travels back toward her family's land in northern Mongolia and the Gobi Desert, hoping to reconnect with her roots, her ancestors, and the spirits of nature. The journey is both physical and emotional, ...

1993 | 43 min | Animation
Duke Ernst is robbed of his castle as a result of a conspiracy and sent on the first crusade as penance. His journey takes him far beyond known borders into a world full of wonders and dangers. Accompanied by brave knights, he crosses the sea to reach the Orient, where he encounters numerous mythical creatures in his search for the legendary carbuncle: the one-legged Sciopods, the winged Ariasperns, the tiny Pygmies and the enigmatic birds Roch. During his adventures, he finds unexpected allies ...