The Empire
By Bruno Dumont
2024 | 110 min | Comedy
In a quiet fishing village on northern France's Opal Coast, the birth of a peculiar child sparks a hidden war between extraterrestrial forces.
Bruno Dumont
DirectorBruno Dumont, born in Bailleul, France, in 1958, is a director and screenwriter who taught philosophy before embarking on his film career. His work is often rooted in his native northern France and deals with human nature and spirituality using a naturalistic and sometimes provocative cinematic language. He is one of the most idiosyncratic voices in European auteur cinema.
THE EMPIRE (2024, directed by Bruno Dumont) continues his blend of provincial realism and fantastical motifs, varying political, religious, and pop cultural references in an absurd space narrative. HUMANITY (1999, directed by Bruno Dumont) marked his international breakthrough: it won the Grand Prix at Cannes, and Emmanuel Schotté and Séverine Caneele were each awarded acting prizes.
His best-known works include “La Vie de Jésus” (1997, directed by Bruno Dumont), “Flandres” (2006, directed by Bruno Dumont; which won the Grand Prix at Cannes), the miniseries P'tit Quinquin (2014, directed by Bruno Dumont), and the Joan of Arc works Jeannette (2017, directed by Bruno Dumont) and Jeanne (2019, directed by Bruno Dumont). Dumont's work remains uncompromising, visually striking, and multi-award-winning—a consistent auteur who productively blurs the boundaries between seriousness and the grotesque.
Films
Humanity
By Bruno Dumont
1999 | 142 min | Timeless
A brutal sex crime reveals the monstrous nature of humans, while a police officer must preserve his humanity.
Recommended for you
The Massacre of Anroechte
2021 | 60 min | Comedy
Inspector Konka and his assistant Walter have to solve the mysterious case of a headless corpse, decapitated by a Hun rider, in the small town of Anröchte. At first, the mayor claims to know nothing about the murders. He does not want to endanger Anröchte's reputation as a haven for tourists. Despite several arrests, there are no clues to the Hun riders. Director Hannah Dörr transforms Wolfram Lotz's lovingly satirical original into a West German fever dream: "An anti-social romantic comedy that ...
Islands in the City
2021 | 23 min | Comedy
In the calm expanse of the Elbe, where the evening sun bathes the decommissioned cruise ships in a soft light, a story of longing and waiting begins. A young man, played by Marian Freistühler, finds himself on the banks of this mighty river, surrounded by strolling couples gazing into the sunset. His thoughts drift to an uncertain message that could determine his future destiny. The melancholy scenery becomes the setting for an inner drama as he imagines embarking on a journey himself – a journey ...
Quiet On Set
2016 | 12 min | Shorts
World War II circa 1940. Soldiers are scattered in the snow - some are freezing, bleeding, or dead. Suddenly, a cut, and we find ourselves on a Norwegian film set in 2016. Petter S. Holmsen's metafictional short film QUIET ON SET deals with a romantic encounter at the bottom of the film world ladder.
Good German Work
2020 | 14 min | Shorts
In Jannis Alexander Kiefer's short film, which is also being shown at interfilm, two craftsmen, Uli and Didi, In their workshop somewhere between rural idyll and village dreariness, are building a swastika and puzzling over the strange newcomers to the village. GOOD GERMAN WORK (orignal title: KOLLEGEN) by Jannis Alexander Kiefer was produced in 2020 and shows how everyday routines can give rise to moral conflicts. The film celebrated its festival debut at the Interfilm Festival Berlin, among others, ...
Monday – A German Love Story
2017 | 5 min | Shorts
Klaus lives for his work. He loves it when he and his colleagues stamp files to the beautifully choreographed beat of the time clock. If only it weren't for that annoying end of the working day, which forces him out of the temple of productivity and into his dreary home. "Anyone wondering how outsiders imagine everyday life in the German office can get the perfect picture of it with MONDAY." (Sooner curator Eva Neidlinger)
Dead Dicks
2019 | 83 min | Horror
A phone call in the middle of the night is enough to throw Becca off balance. Her older brother Richie has a long history of mental instability, and this time his voice sounds more urgent than ever. When she arrives at his apartment, she finds his lifeless body - but at that very moment, he suddenly stands before her, stark naked and very much alive. Richie is convinced: he can no longer die. After every suicide attempt, he is thrown back into life through a mysterious hole in the wall of his bedroom. What ...
t=E/x²
2020 | 82 min | Independent
Merlin works as an editor and is busy editing a film project when he realizes that he is in a time loop. Every few minutes, time stops, runs backwards, and then starts all over again. Within this time loop, Merlin repeatedly receives the same package, with no sender. With the help of the package's contents and the message of time traveler Thadeus Moff (Götz Otto), Merlin manages to change the time loop and meets a mute swordswoman named Ava (Jasmin Wagner). Together, the two embark on their journey ...
Junk Space Berlin
2023 | 105 min | Thriller
An inexplicable rift runs through the dystopian Berlin of tomorrow, where four outsiders venture on a mission to find their missing friend, the AI Billie. But where does Billie's trail lead them? And is it all even real? The closer they get to Billie, the deeper they delve into the marginal deviation of reality. In the process, the rift not only fragments the film's narrative, but also takes us viewers into a world where the boundaries between reality and virtual manipulation have been lost in the ...