Germany spotlighted in this year’s “Country Focus” section

A new year in cinema opens at the 37th Palm Springs International Film Festival, where Germany will take the spotlight in this year’s “Country Focus” section! From January 2 to 12, festival darlings like Sound of Falling, Miroirs No. 3, and Silent Friend will join Fatih Akın’s latest Amrum, visual artist Albert Oehlen’s Bad Painter with the late, great Udo Kier in the leading role, and more. Q&As and a special repertory screening of Konrad Wolf’s Stars (1959) will round out the program. Sponsored by the German Film Office.

 

Program

All That’s Left of You
Dir. Cherien Dabis, 145 min.
This sprawling epic of a Palestinian family begins in the West Bank in 1988, where teenaged Noor throws himself into the protest movement. His actions set off a chain of memories spanning seven decades, investigating his family’s dreams and heartaches under occupation. Shortlisted for the 2026 Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (Jordan).

Amrum
Dir. Fatih Akın, 93 min.
Based on the childhood memories of German film icon Hark Bohm, Fatih Akın’s latest explores the world of 12-year-old Nanning. On the island of Amrum in the last days of World War II, he goes in search of rare goods like flour and sugar for his pregnant mother, a staunch Nazi.

Bad Painter
Dir. Albert Oehlen, 81 min.
Abstract painter Albert Oehlen presents a cinematic portrait of himself split in two, with the late, great Udo Kier as his alter ego and musician Kim Gordon as his interlocutor and inner critic. Director Albert Oehlen in attendance.

Islands
Dir. Jan Ole-Gerster, 123 min.
At a sunlit luxury resort in the Canary Islands, the budding attraction between washed-up tennis star Tom and mysterious tourist Anne takes a turn when Anne’s husband goes missing. Director Jan Ole-Gerster in attendance.

A Land Within
Dir. Michael Kofler, 113 min.
South Tyrol, Italy, 1961. A family from the region’s German-speaking minority struggles between loyalty and justice when one of their own becomes involved in a separatist bombing campaign. Director Michael Kofler in attendance.

The Last Spy
Dir. Katharina Otto-Bernstein, 106 min.
German-born CIA spymaster Peter Sichel—who died earlier this year at age 102—reflects on his experiences at the agency and the personal costs of a life in the shadows. Director Katharina Otto-Bernstein and producer Sabine Schenk in attendance.

Late Shift
Dir. Petra Volpe, 92 min.
Nurse Floria (Leonie Benesch, The Teachers’ Lounge) is known for her professionalism in the surgical ward at a Swiss hospital. One late shift, another nurse calls out from their already understaffed team. An extreme workload and one disastrous mistake threaten to push Floria to the limit. Shortlisted for the 2026 Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (Switzerland).

Miroirs No. 3
Dir. Christian Petzold, 86 min.
A car accident kills piano student Laura’s boyfriend but leaves her mysteriously unharmed. Alone on a country road, she is taken in by the kind-hearted Betty, only to find herself at the center of an unusual family psychodrama.

Silent Friend
Dir. Ildikó Enyedi, 147 min.
A giant gingko tree stands in a botanical garden in an old German university town. Three people in different eras—1908, 1972, and 2020—find glimpses of connection between nature and humankind under its branches.

Sound of Falling
Dir. Mascha Schilinski, 149 min.
Across a century, the lives of four generations of women and girls in the same German farmhouse are linked by patriarchal violence, first love, and the fragility of human life. Shortlisted for the 2026 Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film (Germany) and Best Cinematography. Director Mascha Schilinski and actor Lena Urzendowsky in attendance.

Stars
Dir. Konrad Wolf, 91 min.
In a small Bulgarian town, Wehrmacht officer Walter guards Greek Jews destined for Auschwitz. When he falls in love with Ruth, a Jewish woman, he questions his role in the Nazi war machine and decides to organize her escape with the help of local resistance fighters. Special screening in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Wolf’s birth.

What Marielle Knows
Dir. Frédéric Hambalek, 86 min.
After a slap in the face from her classmate, 11-year-old Marielle gains the ability to see and hear what her parents Julia and Tobias are doing at all times. Her newfound omniscience—and her insistence on using it—reveals cracks in the family that Julia and Tobias struggle awkwardly to contain.