The Frog and The Water | Der Frosch und das Wasser

Saturday, October 10th @ 4:00 PM at the American Cinematheque's Los Feliz 3 Theatre.

Presented with the support of the Consulate General of Switzerland in San Francisco

FREE ADMISSION | TICKETS WILL BE AVAILABLE STARTING MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21st @ 10.00 AM Admission is free with above RSVP link |Capacity is limited
RSVP holders will be admitted on a first-come, first-served basis.


THE FROG AND THE WATER | DER FROSCH UND DAS WASSER
Germany, Switzerland (2025) 113 min. DCP Projection. German, Japanese with English Subtitles
Director Thomas Stuber
Screenplay Gotthard Kuppel, Thomas Stuber, Hyoe Yamamoto
Cinematography Filip Zumbrunn
Editing Kaya Inan
Cast Aladdin Detlefsen, Kanji Tsuda, Bettina Stucky, Meltem Kaptan, Cornelius Schwalm, Yuki Iwamoto
Producers Christoph Friedel, Claudia Steffen
Co-Producers Christof Neracher, Magdalena Welter, Louis Mataré, Annegret Weitkämper-Krug
Production Company Pandora Film Produktion GmbH (Köln), in Co-Production with Hugofilm Productions GmbH (Zürich), Lomotion AG (Bern), Gretchenfilm GmbH (Hamburg), Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF) (Mainz)


Young Stefan 'Buschi' Busch (Detlefsen) lives in an assisted group home in Cologne, where his structured daily routine leaves little room for surprises. Nevertheless, he longs for change. Setting out on his own in an unexpected act of self-determination, Buschi seizes the chance to leave an organized outing and casually joins a Japanese tour group. Having lived his entire life without speaking, Buschi discovers new ways to express himself and connect with others on this unusual trip. Along the way, a tentative, silent friendship develops between Buschi and the Japanese traveler Hideo Kitamura (Kanji), a man on his own personal journey. As this extraordinary road trip unfolds across Germany, Switzerland, and Japan, a bond develops between these unlikely friends that transcends words. Stuber, Kuppel, and Yamato’s screenplay provides the perfect roadmap for award-winning performances by Kanji and Detlefsen in this most unlikely of off-beat road movies.

 
SELECT AWARDS 
Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2025 Best Acting-Duo (Kanji Tsuda, Aladdin Detlefsen)


  Thomas Stuber was born in 1981 in Leipzig and studied at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. His short film ES GEHT UNS GUT won the Young Talent Award of the Film Industry in Baden-Württemberg in 2006. His first feature film TEENAGE ANGST premiered at the Berlinale/Perspektive Deutsches Kino in 2008 and won the German Young Talent Award at the Sehsüchte International Student Film Festival. In 2011 his short film OF DOGS AND HORSES was nominated for the First Steps Award, won the German Short Film Award and, in 2012, a Student Academy Award in Silver. His feature films A HEAVY HEART (2015), IN THE AISLES (2018), and THE FROG AND THE WATER have premiered in Los Angeles at German Currents.


WORLD SALES
THE MATCH FACTORY
www.the-match-factory.com



The GERMAN CURRENTS Film Festival 2026 is a co-production of the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles and the American Cinematheque with the support of The Friends of Goethe, ELMA (European Languages and Movies in America), Condor, the Consulate General of Switzerland in San Francisco, the Austrian Consulate General in Los Angeles, the Italian Cultural Institute of Los Angeles, the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Los Angeles, Paulaner USA, Paulaner Sunset, Tupetz Wine Connection, KRUU.COM, and in cooperation with the German Consulate General in Los Angeles, the Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House e.V., the German Film Office, the Wende Museum, and DEFA Film Library as well as our media partners Deutsche Welle, KPFK Radio, Campus Circle, and our educational outreach partners ELMA and Creating Creators.