SPEARA

Screening followed by  a discussion with Filmmaker Florian Baron.

Presented in cooperation with the Villa Aurora

FREE ADMISSION | TICKETS WILL BE AVAILABLE STARTING MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21st @ 10.00 AM Admission is free with above RSVP link | Capacity is limited | Light refreshments provided

RSVP holders will be admitted on a first-come, first-served basis.


SPEARA
Germany (2025) 40 min. Japanese/English with English Subtitles.
Writer-Director Florian Baron
Cinematography Johannes Waltermann
Editor Maja Tennstedt
Sound Designer Lorenz Fischer
Film Score composer Jana Irmert
Cast Mitsuki Hara
Production Florian Baron
Production Company RAENDROP Film

Filmmaker Florian Baron’s SPEARA follows the journey of Mitsuki, a 26-year-old world champion spearfisher, currently living in California. Originally from Japan, Mitsuki moved abroad when she was only 16, seeking a new start far away from difficult family dynamics. In the USA, Mitsuki discovered her passion for spearfishing, developing her practice while working as a private chef.  Baron interweaves cinematographer Johannes Waltermann’s immersive, atmospheric shots of Mitsuki hunting in the kelp forest along the California coast with Mitsuki’s deeply personal reflections on her past trauma and her discovery of the ocean’s beauty and transformative power. Baron’s film is an intimate portrait of Mitsuki’s personal journey that offers a sharp perspective on identity and migration, self-determination, sustainability, and the role of women in the spearfishing subculture.
    Florian Baron was born in 1984 in Berlin, Germany, taking his first steps as a filmmaker during high school. From 2004 until 2006 he lived in Japan, where he worked on several film and video art projects. From 2007-2012 he was a student in the director's department at the University for Film and Television “Konrad Wolf” in Potsdam where he directed the films RADIO TAXI for ARTE, as well as his graduation film THE FINAL CALL. In the following years he worked in the USA on his documentaries JOE BOOTS and STRESS. In 2020 he co-founded the production company RAENDROP Film. Florian Baron is a Villa Aurora Fellow (2023).


DISTRIBUTION
RAENDROP FILM
www.raendrop-film.de


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.