German Shorts at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (May 23–29, 2022)

23 May 2022, 6:00pm

Black Box Cinema
Abu Dhabi International Book Fair at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center (ADNEC)

Director: Luise Donschen
Silent film, Germany 2021, 14' min.

In the glaring light of a spring day, a father and his daughter roam the Kyoto Botanical Garden. After losing sight of each other, the liminal space of the garden becomes the scene of a series of fleeting encounters, which the director explores with a precise sensitivity to the seen and the unseen. Finally, the two leave the garden together and stop at the river.

25 May 2022, 6:00pm

Black Box Cinema
Abu Dhabi International Book Fair at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center (ADNEC)

Director: Nina Fischer & Maroan el Sani
Animated short, Germany 2020, 20'39 min.

APPROPRIATION TAKES YOU ON A WEIRD RIDE investigates the strange German enthusiasm for Native Americans in relation to contemporary racism and its deep colonial roots.

24 May 2022, 6:00pm

Black Box Cinema
Abu Dhabi International Book Fair at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center (ADNEC)

Director: Jonas Riemer
Animated documentary, Germany 2021, 11' min.

THE ONE WHO CROSSED THE SEA tells the story of a GDR refugee who joins the new right. In a folding boat, he flees via Denmark to Western Germany, where the story tips into the dark. His newly acquired freedom turns into disorientation. Only in a growing nationalist movement does he find a new home. Where does his fear of foreign cultures and the desire for isolation really come from?

26 May 2022, 6:00pm

Black Box Cinema
Abu Dhabi International Book Fair at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center (ADNEC)

Director: Adrian Figueroa
Drama, Germany 2021, 29'20 min.

Murat, Juri and Cornelia are among the so-called "working poor" - as click workers, in a cardboard factory and as freelance parcel deliverers, they are only linked by their low wages. Each one fights on his or her own.

27 May 2022, 6:00pm

Black Box Cinema
Abu Dhabi International Book Fair at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center (ADNEC)

Director: Alexandra Mauritz
Drama, Germany 2021, 23'01 min.

A lonely seamstress receives a strange request to sew a cloak made only from the wings of moths. A work of delicate beauty is painstakingly crafted, and with it a fragile bond between two lost souls. But as soon as the work is finished, her client disappears. Searching for him, she discovers his secret: the cloak holds his final hope to escape a hostile world of lights. But is it possible to reach the freedom of moonlight?

28 May 2022, 6:00pm

Black Box Cinema
Abu Dhabi International Book Fair at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center (ADNEC)

Director: Henning Backhaus
Tragicomedy, Austria/Germany 2020, 13'42 min.

Ingbert, the sock, applies for a position as double bass player at the Vienna State Orchestra. Bad idea.
 

29 May 2022, 6:00pm

Black Box Cinema
Abu Dhabi International Book Fair at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center (ADNEC)

Director: Maren Wiese, Petra Stipetić
Animated short, Germany, 2021
7’45 min.

JEIJAY begins where most love stories end. The film is about two people who are trying to repress the slow but inevitable decay of their relationship. Trapped in the isolation of their small apartment, they realize that the facade of their happy love life is crumbling. While telling this story JEIJAY examines how the meaning of classic intimate togetherness is changing in today's world.