Mission Ulja Funk

KidsKino, the new film series for our young viewers and film fans: Starting now, once a month, on Saturdays at 3 pm at the Goethe-Institut. Films are always shown in the original version (mainly German) with subtitles (English or French).

Mission Ulja Funk

Germany/Luxembourg/Poland | 2021 | 92 min.
Dir. Barbara Kronenberg
With Romy Lou Janinhoff, Jonas Oeßel, Hildegard Schroedter, Luc Feit, Anja Schneider, Ivan Shvedoff, Christina Große, Janina Elkin, Peter Trabner, and Martina Eitner-Acheampong

Twelve-year-old Ulja Funk, an aspiring astronomer, has just discovered that a meteoroid is bound for Belarus. As the adults in her life refuse to listen, she takes matters into her own hands by recruiting her classmate, Henk, for a road trip in a stolen hearse. The unlikely duo has 20 hours to cross Germany and Poland and reach the impact site, but Ulja’s grandmother and her church community quickly catch up with them...

A quirky, fast-paced chase begins, with colorful stops along the way. On their winding journey, moralizers are exposed as hypocrites, and divided families, friends, lovers, and nations are reunited.

“Fresh, joyful, and never patronizing the complex, fearless protagonist, Mission Ulja Funk feels like one of those movies for which it feels the phrase ‘for the young and young at heart’ was invented.” (Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Alliance for Women Film Journalists)

Mission Ulja Funk won the 2023 German Film Award for Best Children’s Film.

We recommend Mission Ulja Funk for children 9 years old and above.