THIS HUMAN WORLD 2025

 
Die 18. Ausgabe von this human world International Film Festival findet vom 27.11. bis zum 6.12. 2025 in Wien statt.

Tickets & Programm: https://thishumanworld.com/
 
this human world ist eine Plattform für filmischen und kritischen Diskurs, ein Ort der Begegnung und des Dialogs, ein Treffpunkt für innovative lokale und internationale Filmemacher. Wir glauben, dass Kino nicht nur eine Kunstform ist, in der Erfahrungen aufgezeichnet, dargestellt und geschaffen werden, sondern auch eine Gelegenheit für die Zuschauer, ihre Komfortzone zu verlassen und sich auf Diskussionen über Themen einzulassen, die außerhalb ihrer alltäglichen Realität liegen.
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this human world: YOUR LIFE WITHOUT ME

HU/SE, 2024
73 min., OmeU

 Magdi, a strong-willed, but lonely caregiver faces a daunting reality as she grows older: if she were to pass away, her disabled adult son, Feri would be left to the inhumane conditions of the Hungarian state care system, and would quickly follow her. Determined to secure a future for Feri, Magdi unites with a group of mothers who are in the same situation and they take legal action against the state. Your Life Without Me is a story of the strength and sacrifices of these women who find their own voice through the common fight and their community. 

this human world: OJAKH, ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SILENCE

AM, 2024
95 min., OmeU

Erhan Arik, a young Turkish photographer, grew up in a house where Armenians once lived, driven out by the massacres in 1915. He had never been interested in this episode of history, but when a voice in a dream starts to haunt him about that past, he decides to set out to meet Armenians, who live just across the border. In search of that voice, Erhan visits several families, who live not far away, a few kilometres from their original land, from where they were driven out by the genocide. This film tells the story of this quest, on the other side of the silence.

this human world: THE VIENNESE SPORT CLUB

AT, 2025
72 min., OmeU

Ein Wiener Sport Club is a cinematic kaleidoscope of community, inclusion, and transformation, showing how sport can be more than goals and scores—a place where the future is already being imagined.

Ein Wiener Sport Club is more than a football documentary. It is a poetic portrait of one of Vienna’s last true cult clubs, rooted in the 17th district between morbid charm and leftist resistance. The film explores a world where football becomes a social mirror and a utopian space of possibility. At its heart is the Friedhofstribüne, a vibrant meeting place where activists, artists, queers, retirees, and dreamers turn fandom into political art and collective ritual. Here, football is reimagined through anti-fascist banners, LGBTQ+ projects, and refugee support, creating a living social utopia. The film follows the people who bring WSC to life: Emina, captain of the women’s team fighting for equality; Frida, a young fencer uniting sport and activism; Stefanie, a queer artist promoting FLINTA visibility; Wolfgang, the idealist president; Alan, a devoted father; and Roland, the blind announcer whose voice captures every game.

this human world: PERSONALE + Talk

IT/AT, 2024
93 min., OmeU

  Behind the scenes of a hotel in the Italian Dolomites, the staff do everything they can to serve the guests and prevent complaints. The hotel has four stars, and a fifth is in sight. The housekeeping team, mainly made up of women, makes sure everything is clean. Breaks are short, and there are no holidays or sick leave. Personale watches the workers, all of whom have an immigrant background, as they do the same repetitive tasks; and in doing so, consistently adopts their perspective. Not being seen means not existing.   

this human world: IN HELL WITH IVO + Concert

BG/US, 2025
78 min., OmeU

I first encountered Ivo at an kind space he ran in Sofia. His unapologetic presence what electric-unabashedly gay, brilliant, and wildly provocative. Kristina Nikolova (director)

Ivo Dimchev is on international acclaimed Bulgarian multidisciplinary artist, a theater maker, choreographer, visual artist, singer- songwriter known for his extreme and colorful mix of performance kind, dance, music, visual arts, and queer activism. Renowned for pushing creative boundaries and challenging societal norms, Dimchev's contemporary artistic projects are celebrated worldwide for their boldness and innovative approach.

Following the screening, Ivo will give an exclusive concert on the cinema stage.

this human world: MAD BILLS TO PAY

US, 2025
100 min., OmeU
In a tight knit Dominican American community in the Bronx, Rico is hustling his way through the summer, selling bootleg ”nutcracker” cocktails out of a beach cooler and chasing girls without a care in the world. But when his teenage girlfriend, Destiny, crashes at his place with his family, turning their small apartment into a stage for their messy, complicated young love, it’s only a matter of time before they’re hit with the sobering reality of growing up too fast in a city that waits for no one.

this human world: AUSTRIAN SHORT FILM PROGRAM 1

AT, 2025
60 min., OmeU

HEAST, Francisca Friedrich/ Lena Isabella Deisenberger, AT/DE 2024, 02:20 min

DOSTA DOSTA (Enough Enough), Julia Novacek, AT/ME/RS 2025, 30 min

FORBIDDEN LOVE (Yasak Aşk), Yavuz Kurtulmus, AT/TR 2025, 12 min

III, Josephine Ahnelt, AT 2025, 17 min

this human world: AUSTRIAN SHORT FILM PROGRAM 2

AT, 2025
65 min., OmeU

DIRTY CARE, Isa Schieche, AT 2025, 16:55 min

A DIMINISHING BLUE, Jakob Jakubowski, AT 2025, 05:24 min

CAUGHT IN 4K, Adriana Mrnjavac, Nicole Stigler, AT 2025, 15 min

AT NIGHT, WHEN DOGS BARK, Lena Imboden, AT 2025, 27:21 min

this human world: KHARTOUM

DE/UK/SD/QA, 2025
80 min., OmeU

Five lives, one city… the fate of a nation.  From the metropolis of Khartoum five Sudanese characters: a civil servant, a tea lady, a resistance committee volunteer, and two street boys all in search of freedom, have their stories unexpectedly woven together through animated dreams, street revolutions and a civil war. 

this human world: LIKE THE RAIN, LIKE THE SEA

IR, 2024
50 min., OmeU
Monireh Sadat Hosseini, known as Darya, was born blind but regained limited sight after a pilgrimage to Mashhad, which her mother believes was a miracle. A bright and determined girl, Darya dreams of becoming president despite facing prejudice from those who see her blindness as divine punishment. Now 23, she has embraced her condition with peace and strength. Fluent in 17 languages, Darya has independently traveled to eight countries, using her passion for poetry, art, and human connection to inspire others. Her resilience and optimism make her a symbol of empowerment for people with disabilities worldwide.

this human world: ONLY ON EARTH

DK/ES, 2025
93 min.,

Only on Earth is an immersive, visually striking film anchored in moments from a summer marred by extreme heat and drought, where inextinguishable wildfires rage for days. The film is deeply rooted in the mountainous landscapes of Southern Galicia, one of Europe’s most vulnerable forest fire zones. Kilometers of wind turbines extend across these lands as ghostly white behemoths cloaked in mountain mist.  Below them graze las bestas: the small, hardy European wild horses that have roamed these lands freely for centuries under the watch of local cowboys. They are indispensable when it comes to fire prevention as they keep down the flammable undergrowth. But the horses are becoming fewer and fewer in number, and some fear they may soon vanish entirely in the clash between human progress and nature. At the same time, the true cowboy lifestyle is becoming a thing of the past. The film takes on multiple perspectives. Extraordinary firefighter San, who specializes in forest fire analysis, a job taking him to the frontlines of the most dangerous fires; ten-year-old Pedro, an aspiring cowboy; Cristina, who lives a life close to nature, for better and for worse, as both a farmer and a firefighter; warm-hearted vet Eva, who works with horses, both wild and tame, and who’s also a genuine cowboy on par with the guys; and the animals, especially the horses, who are always returning our gaze when we look at them.

this human world: LARRY

HU, 2022
108 min., OmeU
This coming-of-age story tells of a young man in Borsod who can only overcome his stutter by rapping and becomes a star on YouTube under the name Larry. Twenty-one-year-old Ádám lives in a village in Borsod and still lives with his father Zoltán, who started a relationship with another woman after his mother's suicide. Zoltán was once a police officer, is a former alcoholic, very religious, and attends church regularly. He constantly tries to control and manipulate his son. Ádám earns his living as a shepherd. Only when the stutterer raps does he manage to forget his speech impediment.

this human world: UKRAINIAN SHORT FILM PROGRAM + Talk

UA, 2025
87 min., OmdU
Rock Paper Scissors, Franz Böhm, UK 2025, 20 min
Darkness All Around, Dominika Tarinová, SK/UA 2023, 13 min
Teen Angst, Inga Pylypchuk, DE/UA 2024, 38 min
Bridges of Belonging, Maria Shurkhal/Amin Ebrahimi, AT/UA 2025, 16 min

this human world: RASHID, THE BOY FROM SINJAR

FR/BE, 2025
80 min., OmeU
After surviving ISIS prisons as a child, Rashid has been reunited with his family in Sinjar, in northwestern Iraq. Now a teenager, this young Yazidi dreams of a brighter future in a country that is struggling to rebuild. But peace is fragile in Sinjar, and hatred against the Yazidi minority is resurfacing. On the threshold of adulthood, Rashid is reinventing himself amid the changes disrupting his daily life and wondering whether to leave or stay.

this human world: EVERST DARK

CA, 2025
80 min., OmeU

Everest Dark tells the epic journey of a professional Sherpa climber, who has the objective to honor the mountain gods by retrieving those who died while climbing Everest, and whose bodies are lost in its iced faces. Despite the risks and dangers posed by nature, he organizes an expedition that could be his last, while offering a rare local perspective on Everest and all the precautions a climber must take to face the tallest mountain of the world.

this human world: WILD ROOTS

SK/HU, 2021
98 min., OmeU

When Niki finds out that her father is in town after being released from prison, she disobeys her grandmother's fierce objections and meets him in secret. Faced with his 12-year-old daughter, Tibor is forced to confront his role as a father and finally take responsibility. After 7 years without contact, the father and daughter get to know each other, whilst realising their strong connection and how powerful forgiveness can be.

this human world: LESSON LEARNED

HU, 2024
119 min., OmeU

At a time of crisis in the Hungarian school system, two newcomers, Juci (33) and Palkó (10), arrive at a struggling school. Juci is unexpectedly made head teacher of a fifth-grade class due to a teacher shortage. Meanwhile, Palkó, recently relocated from Berlin, struggles to adapt to the demanding educational system. As Juci attempts to challenge the outdated methods and Palkó tries to fit in, a childish prank lands him in trouble, making life at school miserable for both of them. Their personal stories offer insight into an oppressive system, reflecting broader Hungarian society.



 

this human world: OUR WILDEST DAYS

FR/BE/DE/GR, 2025
104 min., OmeU

Chloe decides to leave Athens and travel to the other side of the country. On the way, she happens to meet a group of young people who are driving around Greece in a motorhome and helping people who live on the edge of poverty. Chloe is immediately taken by the group’s ideals and unconventional lifestyle and joins them. Travelling with the group, she discovers aspects of her country, and also of herself, that she previously did not know existed. She learns what it is like to care for others and to be cared for, to have a chosen family and how much you may have to sacrifice not to lose them. She learns the rituals of her new tribe, finds love, is disappointed, experiences fear, hunger, danger and freedom. Chloe’s journey on the frantic road of rebellion takes her over the threshold into true adulthood, and to the realisation that it only becomes less painful when you are not alone.

this human world: VALENTINA AND THE MUOSTERS

CH/IT, 2024
80 min., OmeU
Valentina and the MUOSters is a documentary film that deals with the complicated family relationships that accompany the complicated political circumstances of a military town. Set in a small town in Sicily that has become a US satellite station, the story follows 27-year-old Valentina as she seeks to become independent from her parents. The restrictions Valentina faces are a direct result of the satellites' impact on the daily lives of the local residents.

this human world: THE SHARDS

DE/GE, 2024
90 min., OmeU

In Spring 2022 Masha prepares to leave Russia, her homeland that has changed. However, a chain of unexpected farewells makes everything, including her own self, fall apart. Her only way to cope with the grief is to record her life with a camera. As her anger guides her to the local underground scene, which has become an escape for young Russians, her lens captures the kaleidoscope of shards representing not only the spirit of the time, but also her personality crumbling against the backdrop of global turmoil.

this human world: HAPPYEND

JP/US, 2024
113 min., OmeU

In Happyend, set in a near-future Tokyo where the threat of a catastrophic earthquake pervades daily life, two rabble-rousing best friends are about to graduate high school. One night, they pull a consequential prank on their Principal, which leads to a surveillance system being installed in their school. Stuck between the oppressive security system and a darkening national political situation, the two respond in contrasting ways, leading them to confront differences they never had to face before.



 

this human world: ACTION ITEM

SK/CZ, 2025
69 min., OmeU
Action Item is a documentary that explores themes of paralysing anxiety experienced by larger and larger numbers of youth. It gives an insight into the experiences of the new generation of workers who are burdened by the never-ending chase for productivity. The slow-paced nature of the documentary juxtaposes the stressful reality of our everyday fast-paced lives, and gives the viewers time to sit with the artistic shots and introspective monologues of the narrators. Young people are rearing to oppose the societal expectation and call for reflection and detoxication of the mind that has been burnt out by the unachievable goals set by the collective.

this human world: SHAKEN GROUNDS, SHIFTING SKIES

DE/AT, 2024
30 min., OmeU
Shaken Grounds, Shifting Skies is a short film that traverses the volatile terrains of Campi Flegrei, Mount Vesuvius, Vulcano Island in Italy, and the retreating Pasterze glacier in Austria, interweaving these landscapes with scenes from the art studio and reflective questions. Through this constellation of film fragments, the work meditates on how seismic shifts in the external environment resonate within the human body and psyche.
As the narrative unfolds, it shifts focus to seismic zones, where tectonic instability is no longer purely natural but increasingly shaped by human activity: climate change, groundwater extraction, mining, and waste.
Created by the artist collective Shaken Grounds, this film investigates how art can register and respond to the deep entanglements between humanity and a destabilized Earth. Shaken Grounds, Shifting Skies offers a poetic journey through landscapes that are at once ancient and contemporary, challenging viewers to reconsider where—and how—we find ground when the very crust beneath us is trembling.

this human world: LILLY

US, 2024
93 min., OmdU
Lilly is a powerful dramatic film starring Patricia Clarkson, John Benjamin Hickey and Thomas Sadoski, directed by Rachel Feldman, based on the true story of working-class hero, Lilly Ledbetter, an Alabama tire factory supervisor whose goal is to lift her family into the middle class. Lilly follows the transformation of an ordinary citizen into the face of an issue, illuminating the impact of a single, courageous person. A movie for this moment, Lilly inspires audiences with hope.

this human world: SCARECROW

AT/IR, 2025
84 min., OmeU

Scarecrow is a story of hope, love, and art. The film tells the story of Lida, a third-generation Armenian refugee from Turkey to Iran. Lida is a gifted ballet dancer, but ballet is forbidden for women in her homeland. When she is no longer allowed to dance, she retreats to the Caspian Sea coast to work as a scarecrow—an absurd, poetic image of someone who has lost her own wings. In her solitude, she meets a soldier, and a tender, vulnerable love story blossoms between them. But even this love cannot completely free Lida from her inner darkness. Matarsak is the story of a woman who, despite pain, loss, and prohibitions, searches for freedom and beauty. Will she find her way back to dance? Filmed in northern Persia on the Caspian Sea, the film combines poignant emotions with stunning images of a region where nature and longing intertwine.

this human world: THE TRAVELERS

CM/ES, 2025
60 min., OmeU

This documentary, spanning a decade of filming by director David Bingong, offers a firsthand perspective on the perilous journeys of young West African migrants aiming to reach Europe. The narrative centers on a group of young men in Morocco as they prepare to cross the heavily guarded border into Spain in 2015, a dream shared by many hoping to support their families back home.

this human world: KNOW HOPE

IL, 2025
74 min., OmeU

Addam Yekutieli, often referred to as the “Israeli Banksy,” prefers to avoid such mystification. Under his pseudonym Know Hope, he creates fragile, humanoid figures in public spaces that use empathy as a political language. With them, he questions the myths and narratives of a fragmented Israeli society—and as a result, increasingly finds himself in conflict. Know Hope accompanies an artist who fights against cynicism and the hardening of a polarized world in favor of radical empathy.

this human world: SOIL AND WINGS

RS/MK, 2025
77 min., OmeU

In a North-Macedonian village called Kanatlar, Ayten and Erdoğan raise their family, balancing the ancient Bektashi-dervish doctrine with the challenges of modern life and economy. This tobacco-growing valley is home to a few hundred Turks of the Bektashi Sufi order, an 800-year-old branch of Islam that teaches progressive ideas, even by today’s standards. They believe everyone and everything is equal, which gives women freedom and power that many other Muslims find blasphemous. Ayten and Erdoğan love each other deeply, but this love is mostly shown through their work for the family. This hard-working couple shows gender equality blooming where you would least expect it – in a rural community of Muslims devoted to religion, family and tradition in one of the poorest regions of the Balkans.

this human world: THE LIONS BY THE RIVER TIGRIS + Talk

NO/NL/IQ, 2024
92 min., OmeU

In Mosul after the destruction of the city by ISIS. Three men whose lives revolve around memory and forgotten culture: Bashar, a fisherman who wants to protect the ruins of his family home from looters. Fakhri, a former soldier and collector of Iraqi artifacts, who wants to save the artistic evidence of the past. Fadel, a violinist who has vowed to fill Mosul with music again after years of prohibition. The focus is on the contested doorframe decorated with lions, which becomes a symbol of both tenacity and the survival of culture.

this human world: INVASION OF QATAR + Talk

CA, 2025
76 min., OmeU
Invasion of Qatar follows Alex Frobez’s journey to the World Cup of Soccer in Qatar. Can he invade the field before he gets arrested and thrown in Qatari prison? Complicating things, he is also on a mission to reconnect with his father, a famous pitch invader in his own right, at the expense of his pregnant wife back home in Canada. A tender, but biting, look at the challenge of family dynamics while leaning into uncomfortable comedic moments like Borat and Best in Show.

this human world: YALLA PARKOUR

SE/QA/SA/PS, 2024
89 min., OmeU

When filmmaker Areeb sees a video of young men doing parkour on the beach in Gaza, memories come back. The liveliness of the young runners contradict the explosions heard in the distance. Areeb gets in touch with the parkour runners, including Ahmed. Together, they make their way through the devastated Gaza Strip, where he finds it difficult to imagine a future for himself.

this human world: AN OCTOPUS DESTROYED THE MOON + Talk

AT/DE, 2025
90 min., OmeU
The title of Heidrun Holzfeind's film, An Octopus Destroyed the Moon, comes up in a conversation between two girls who express their disgust at the maggots they find while harvesting nuts. These girls are participants in an integrative course of study on agricultural industry at the August Sander School in Berlin: Back in 2004, Holzfeind already produced a photo series there. This current work continues her thematic exploration of profession, integration and educational institutions as it observes a diverse group of students over the course of one full year at the vocational school. The director captures the students' strengths, impairments, wishes, and insecurities in clear, calm images, especially focusing in on their interaction with one another and their teachers.

this human world: CUTTING THROUGH ROCKS

IR, 2025
95 min., OmeU
Cutting Through Rocks follows Sara Shaverdi, the first female councillor in an Iranian village. She challenges patriarchal social norms, imposed on her and all the women in the town, by trying to put an end to arranged child marriages, teaching girls how to ride motorcycles, and providing legal advice to women in town. Because of her passion to empower women and refusal to conform her intentions are questioned and her identity faces serious accusations. The story of her political activism shows the importance of strong voices who do not fear to speak for the marginalised. 

this human world: OF DOGS AND MEN

IL/IT, 2024
82 min., OmeU
Dani Rosenberg's documentary-feature film hybrid follows 16-year-old Dar. She returns to her kibbutz, which was destroyed on October 7, to look for her dog – she can't search for her mother because, like so many others, she was abducted to Gaza by Hamas.
Dar is played by an actress, but the destroyed kibbutz is real and so are the survivors she encounters. The rocket streaks in the sky are not special effects, as the film was shot at the original locations just a few weeks after October 7.

this human world: MILITANTROPOS

UK/FR/AT, 2025
111 min., OmeU
Militantropos captures the human condition through the fractured realities of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The film pieces together everyday lives transformed by war — those who flee, those who lose everything, and those who stay to resist and fight — tracing both the instinct to survive and the need for closeness. Amid devastation and atrocity, the human is absorbed into war — and war, in turn, becomes part of the human

this human world: GENERATIONS OF IMAGES

AT/AL, 2025
103 min., OmeU

With an essayistic-poetic approach, Generations of Images embarks on a search for traces through the profound transformation processes of Albanian history. In archives, forgotten places and memories of different generations, ruptures and continuities become visible, left behind by the transition from communist dictatorship to capitalist democracy. Through an ambiguous poem, interpreted both as a wake-up call for revolution and an authoritarian lullaby, the film delves into regime images and image regimes, bringing forth hidden narratives and depicting how deeply Albania’s history is inscribed into the texture of its present.

this human world: THE PRISON OF HISTORY

CZ, 2023
94 min., OmeU

Buzzy bees pollinate the flowers in the executioner's courtyard. An overgrown window projects shadows of leaves on the cracked walls of the former cell. Nearby lies the last occupant of the building, the decayed corpse of a curious marten. The former prison has stood in Uherské Hradiště for almost 130 years. Since the WWII it has been the site of political trials, torture and executions. The German Gestapo was replaced by the Czechoslovak Communist government and continued to suppress basic human rights until it ceased operations in the 1960s. The empty premises were used for the Secondary School of Arts and Crafts, a school canteen, a recreation hall, a theatre warehouse. Today the prison is forgotten by its surroundings, surrounded by a supermarket, a bus station and an art school. [Czech film center]

this human world: CHAMPIONS OF THE GOLDEN VALLEY

US/AF/DE, 2025
81 min., OmeU

At the heart of this movement is Alishah Farhang, a former Winter Olympic hopeful whose dream of being the first to represent Afghanistan in alpine skiing transforms into a mission to bring his passion for the sport to his homeland. Equipped with handmade wooden skis and secondhand gear, young athletes from rival villages come together to compete in a ski mountaineering race like no other. The event becomes a powerful catalyst for unity and hope, showcasing the transformative power of sport to bridge deep divides. And when their world is suddenly upended, Alishah and the athletes must call upon those lessons learned on the slopes.

Riveting, uplifting and deeply human, this is a story about how champions can be made by more than medals. With the spirit of an underdog sports story, Champions of the Golden Valley is a visually stunning and utterly unique perspective on the Olympic dream – showing how competition can strengthen communities, unite cultures, and bring light to even the most unexpected corners of the world.

this human world: HOME GAME

NL, 2024
98 min., OmeU
An autobiographical essay film explores the topic of political conflict, displacement and finding a place of belonging outside the motherland. Through archival footage of fleeing Sarajevo during the Balkan civil war and building a new life in Amsterdam, Zelović offers an urgent reflection on nationalism, identity, and the meaning of home.

this human world: LACE RELATIONS

AT, 2025
88 min., OmeU

Lace Relations follows the twisted threats of textile history. The film looks at the dramatic encounters of Nigeria and Austria; it introduces flamboyant fashion icons and industrious manufacturers,  and evokes the ghosts lingering in the hidden seams of colonial history.

this human world: EVIDENCE

US, 2025
76 min., OmdU

In her razor-sharp film essay, Lee Anne Schmitt recounts the great cultural battles of the American right from her living room, using the children's toys her father brought her back from his business trips for the Olin Corporation. The same corporation finances a foundation of the same name, which, like many others, promotes right-wing conservative ideologies.



 

this human world: REDLIGTH TO LIMELIGHT

FL/LV/IN, 2025
100 min., OmeU

Redlight to Limelight follows a group of young children who are passionately weaving stories with mothers and sisters through their video production unit called CAM-ON to cultivate a meaningful change in the lives of a special community of sex workers in the brothel of Kalighat, Kolkata. Keeping aside the ghosts of their grimy reality and who they were, women and children get immersed in an incredible joy of storytelling with a burning desire to turn the brothel into a better place. Woven around the experiences of mothers and sisters, CAM ON embarks on making a new short fiction Nupur, which is often entwined between memories and actuality, takes them through a catharsis when the community premieres the film for a public screening. With joy and the power of storytelling, artful voices make their grimy universe a liberating space of self-assertion.


this human world: BROKEN VOICES

CZ/SK, 2025
104 min., OmeU

In the early 1990s 13-year-old Karolína, a gifted novice singer, is given the chance to become a member of a world-famous girls' choir, taking her place alongside her older sister and her other rivals in the ensemble. Karolína’s exceptional talent has caught the attention of the formidable and much admired choirmaster whose attention is wanted by all the young singers. What will be the price Karolína has to pay to become his favourite?  [Czech film institute]

this human world: MONSTERS OF DUST

BE, 2024
74 min., OmeU
Johnny and Goyko, two former homeless men try to reveal themselves in a film. The path to recover a senseof legitimacy isn't simple, as they share their story. By uncovering the filming process, Monsters Of Dustquestions the singular bonds created by documentary making.

this human world: TRANSITLAND

AT, 2024
75 min., OmeU

Fortezza/Franzensfeste ist ein Dorf in einem Tal, das nie die Sonne sieht. Selbst im Sommer ist es Winter. Die meiste Arbeit wird nachts erledigt oder untertage. Eine Festung für den Kaiser, ein Staudamm für Mussolini, ein Tunnel für Europa werfen ihre Schatten. Hier wird man nicht geboren, man kommt auf der Suche nach Arbeit, verbraucht sich für Bauten, die einen überdauern werden, und wird hier sterben. Dennoch wirken die Bewohner:innen gelöst, wenn sie von der Flucht vor Regimen und Vätern erzählen, und vom Spaß daran, Felsen zu sprengen. Züge halten, doch niemand fährt weg. Ein paradoxer Ort.

this human world: WELCOME INTO WOMEN’S WORLD + Pre-Film ADEMI

BE , 2025
63 min., OmeU
Welcome Into Women’s world centres the story of a mother confronted with the transition of her daughter. After 45 years her son shares his realisation and decision to start living as a woman, her true self. This decision pushes Yoyo into rethinking her position as a woman and a mother. The film follows her emotional journey as she learns to accept and support her child's new identity, which in turn forces her to re-examine her own life and understanding of womanhood.

this human world: TROP CHAUD – KLIMASENIORINNEN VS. SWITZERLAND + Discussion

CH, 2025
70 min., OmeU

The spectre of climate change is haunting us. Why can’t we find answers to the greatest challenge of our time? Trop Chaud, a courtroom thriller from the European Court of Human Rights, clarifies matters.

The Swiss KlimaSeniorinnen (senior women against climate change) are fighting on the front line. Instead of retiring, these elderly women from the civil society in all parts of multilingual Switzerland want to do something about the increasingly frequent heat waves. They bravely take on their own country and file a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) against the Swiss government, claiming that it is not doing enough to protect their health. It is a seemingly hopeless undertaking that, after eight years of fighting, culminates in a spectacular ruling that attracts worldwide attention. On 9 April 2024, the ECHR rules that climate protection is a human right. A triumph for the Swiss KlimaSeniorinnen. But Switzerland chooses not to implement the landmark ruling.

this human world: TATA

RO/DE/ NL, 2024
82 min., OmeU

​​After years of estrangement, Lina, a Moldovan journalist, receives a video message from her father, a migrant worker in Italy, showing bruises on his arms. Equipping him with a hidden camera so that he may find justice, Lina finds herself on a parallel journey — uncovering a pattern of domestic violence that has plagued her family for generations. Filmed across Italy, Moldova, and Romania, TATA is a raw portrait of a family locked in a relentless struggle against toxic masculinity. It tells the story of a daughter's emotionally poignant quest to break the cycle for herself, the next generation, and even for the one who hurt her.

this human world: TO THE WEST IN ZAPATA

CU/ES, 2025
85 min., OmeU

Landi is a father who secretly camps in the marshlands of Zapata, where he hunts crocodiles with his hands to feed his family. The radio reports hundreds of daily deaths from the pande-mic and strong social tensions in Cuba. On the coast, his wife Mercedes searches for charcoal to cook and takes care of their son, who suffers from severe autism. Days go by, and Mercedes becomes impatient. Landi should have returned by now, and there is no news of him. She fears something has happened to him, but she cannot say anything to avoid giving them away. He finally appears, carrying the food that enables them to survive, before having to return to the marsh. Their lives are a cycle, plagued by need and absence.

this human world: NO MERCY

DE/AT, 2025
104 min., OmeU

„Frauen machen die härteren Filme!“ Seit Kult-Regisseurin Kira Muratova der jungen Filmemacherin Isa Willinger am Beginn ihrer Filmkarriere diesen Gedanken mit auf den Weg gab, ließ der sie nicht mehr los. Wie kann das sein, wo doch „weiblich“ eher mit „empathisch“ und „gefühlvoll“ gleichgesetzt wird?

Nun begibt sich Willinger auf zu einer Reise zu den großen Regisseurinnen unserer Zeit. Sie trifft mit weltberühmten Regie-Ikonen, ebenso wie Newcomerinnen und radikalen Vordenkerinnen zusammen. Dabei wird klar, dass die Leinwand Projektionsfläche realer gesellschaftlicher Probleme und Machtverhältnisse ist. Die Frage, die NO MERCY stellt, geht tief: Wo stehen wir heute wirklich in punkto Frauen, Männer und Macht?

this human world: PORTRAITS OF OUR TIME – exp:∆n:ded shorts COMPETITION

EG/ZA/ES/CO/TO, 2025
95 min., OmeU

Fekry's Thoughts, Essam Hayder, EG 2025, 20 min

Dear Sikhonkwane, Shile Hlophe, ZA 2025, 20 min

Women of Bissau, Juan Garcia de la Fuente/ Dave Jackson, ES 2024, 20 min

The Warriors Of Love, Joaquín Gonzáles, CO 2024, 15 min

Hi Mom, It's Me, Lou Lou, Atakan Yilmaz, TK 2024, 20 min

this human world: CHOSEN FAMILY

BG, 2025
84 min., OmeU

Massie, Addi, Lylybeth and Joy are four non-binary artists at a turning point in their careers on Brussels’ burgeoning drag scene. While this chosen family is close-knit and supportive, their blood family often has difficulty understanding their identity and their profession. Many truths and emotions remain unspoken.

Their shows, sometimes very funny, sometimes very dark, often both, are directly inspired by their daily struggles. The stage allows them to express their gender identities. It’s also their livelihood and the place where they draw the energy to force their way into our society.

As their performances become increasingly notable, a quest for identity and artistic recognition takes shape. These artists aspire to something essential: the need to embrace who you are and, above all, to be accepted for who you are.

this human world: HOLLOWAY + Discussion

UK, 2025
85 min., OmeU

Six women return to the now abandoned Holloway Prison to take part in a women’s circle. Sharing some of the most intimate experiences of their lives, they unravel what led each of them to prison, building an eye-opening portrait of repeatedly failing systems, and discovering their extraordinary capacity to heal through sisterhood.


this human world: MOTHERS

AT, 2025
85 min., OmeU

Mothers talk about their experiences. What expectations are placed on them, and what are the personal and social challenges they face? From nuclear families and single parents to homosexual parents and motherhood through artificial insemination, everything is represented. Layer by layer, outdated and reversed role models and the breaking of social norms become visible. Motherhood between hard work and euphoria.


this human world: INVENTION

US, 2024
72 min., eOV

Carrie Fernandez inherits a patent for one of her late father's inventions: a medical-grade healing device. To gain clarity, she embarks on a journey between biographical curiosity and alienation from what the financiers of her father's parascientific ventures have to say about his world and its truths.

this human world: STARS OF LITTLE IMPORTANCE

HU, 2025
83 min., OmeU

A brother and sister return home from the capital for Christmas. They are the "prodigal sons" who left the countryside but are now returning after a long absence to reunite with childhood friends and first loves. They hold a party. They drink heavily. Nothing is the same as before.

this human world: PRISON PROJECT: LITTLE SCANDINAVIA + Discussion

US, 2023
97 min., OmeU

In 2018 the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections concludes that the methods used in correctional practises today are not giving the desired results. There are high numbers of incarcerations and recidivism, in connection with a stressed-out staff whose life expectancy is lower than amongst war veterans. 

One possible solution is to try and change the focus, and move towards a more humane and rehabilitating setting inside the prison. 

In the summer of 2019 a group of correctional officers and management travels around Scandinavia in order to be inspired to a new way of doing things. For two weeks the US correctional officers work side-by-side with Norwegian colleagues to observe and collect clues on how aspects of Scandinavian prison practices, elements and methods could be adapted back home. 

In late 2019 construction starts in the Charlie Alpha unit at State Correctional Institute Chester. This unit was given the name "Little Scandinavia". 

The documentary follows the whole process from the early start in 2018 until January 2023. 

this human world: DAJORI

CZ, 2024
87 min., OmeU

Dajori (which means “mother” in Romani) tells the moving story of Marie, a strong Romani woman who lives with her husband Enrico in the poor Czech border town of Varnsdorf. Marie decides to help her younger sister, who has become homeless with her nine children. Two-year-old Anabel and nine-year-old Samuel come into Marie and Enrico's care. Over the next three years, the film follows the dynamics of the new family and Marie's efforts to compensate the traumatized children with maternal love while raising them according to her ideals.


this human world: SPLIT VISIONS, SHARED WORLDS – exp:∆n:ded shorts COMPETITION

DE/BE/FR/ES/CN, 2025
70 min., OmeU

The Beginning of Identification, and its End, Philipp Gufler, DE 2024, 19 min

In Thousand Petals, Louise Bongartz, BE 2023, 10 min

Sixty-seven Milliseconds, Fleuryfontaine, FR 2025, 15 min

Abortion Party, Julia Mellen, ES 2025, 13 min

Touching fish, Yongjin Li, CN 2025, 13 min

this human world: FAIRY GARDEN

HU, 2023
83 min., OmeU

On the outskirts of Budapest, deep in the woods, stands a small, crumbling hut. Inside, two social outcasts have created an unlikely bond. Fanni, a 19-year-old transgender girl, and Laci, a 60-year-old homeless man, support each other as a makeshift father and daughter, building a fragile sense of home on the margins of Hungarian society. Life is harsh, but it is theirs.
This intimate coming-of-age documentary explores home, family, and acceptance while reflecting the struggles of Hungary’s LGBTQ community. Since 2020, government laws have banned gender changes on official documents and restricted access to LGBTQ content for minors, fueling fear, censorship, and hate. Created without state funding and supported only by private and foreign sources, the film stands as both a personal story and a quiet act of resistance.

this human world: REQUIEM IN WEISS – Das würdelose Sterben unserer Gletscher

AT, 2025
60 min., OmeU

The glaciers of the Eastern Alps are dying—irreversibly, as scientists agree. While the “eternal ice” melts and permafrost thaws, tourism continues to boom. Visitors crowd into glacier cable cars to touch the vanishing ice one last time. Meanwhile, drastic interventions reshape the landscape: slope reinforcements, snow depots, artificial snow systems, and massive terrain modifications—a race against time to keep glacier skiing alive. Harry Putz creates a haunting cinematic homage to the dying glaciers of the Alps. Through in-depth interviews, he weaves science and emotion into a powerful documentary, filmed across 14 glaciers in Austria, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. In the end, one unavoidable question remains: How do we say goodbye to our glaciers?

 


 

this human world: LEBEN UND ÜBERLEBEN + Talk

AT, 2024
92 min., OmeU

A documentary portrait of Erich Richard Finsches: a Viennese contemporary witness, Holocaust survivor, and person of public interest. The portrait will first shed light on Erich Finsches' youth, which was marked by persecution by the Nazis. It will explore his character and examine how his experiences shaped him. His later life in post-war Vienna will also be discussed, and the film will explore how the then 18-year-old Erich, alone, without parents, but with firm determination and a zest for life, built a new existence for himself. We gain insight into the everyday life of Erich Finsches, now 94 years old, who, despite his history marked by the past, is still tireless in his efforts to convey his story to younger generations. His walking disability hardly prevents him from tirelessly attending commemorative ceremonies and schools at home and abroad to tell his story and convey his message of “never again” to students and interested parties.

this human world: OCEANIA: JOURNEY TO THE CENTER

US OmeU

Oceania is an elegy, an investigation, and a call to action. The film challenges us to reconsider which connections are most important for the survival of humanity and ecosystems, and why we must restore them if we want to survive as a species. The story begins on a coral atoll that is expected to be uninhabitable by 2030 due to rising sea levels and temperatures caused by climate change. We follow a mother and her adult son as they struggle to preserve their culture, freedom, and independence after decades of colonization.

this human world: MYANMAR DIARIES + Podium + Briefmarathon

NL/NO/MM, 2024
70 min., OmeU
THIS HUMAN WORLD 2025 x Amnesty International

Der Film dokumentiert das Leben unter dem Regime in Myanmar nach dem Militärputsch vom 1. Februar 2021 und erzählt dies anhand persönlicher Geschichten einer Gruppe anonymer junger burmesischer Filmemacher*innen.

this human world: STORK DREAMS

BG, 2024
62 min., OmeU

"Based on my own experience, which I extend through that of other infertile people, I show how Medically Assisted Reproduction changes our relationship with the body and the imaginary. We need to put mystery back where science gives us everything (too much) to see." Director Elodie Lélu

this human world: WHEN THE PHONE RANG

RS, 2024
73 min., OmeU

An extremely original film revolving around a series of fateful phone calls. The phone rings for the first time in 1992. We are in the Serbian city of Novi Sad, where someone calls 11-year-old Lana to tell her that her grandfather has died. For Lana, this sad news is the first step towards the collapse of Yugoslavia, which is on the brink of civil war. Shot on analog 16mm film in Novi Sad in locations that still look like they did in the 1990s, the film dissolves the clear boundaries between past and present—much like Radivojević's 11-year-old alter ego, who is in transition between childhood and early adolescence.

this human world: SLEEPLESS CITY

ES/FR, 2025
97 min., OmeU
Toni, a 15-year-old Roma boy, lives in the largest illegal settlement in Europe, on the outskirts of Madrid. Proud to belong to his family of scrap metal dealers, he follows his grandfather everywhere. But as demolitions move closer and closer to their plot, and his grandfather is willing to do anything to stay, Toni will have to choose what to let go and what to sacrifice.

this human world: THIS IS MY BODY + CONFESSION

FR , 2025
65 min., OmeU

“When I file a complaint against the former priest Olivier de Scitivaux, I compulsively pick up the camera. I've forgotten everything about my childhood, and my parents are entangled in denial. I didn't expect the procedure to take so long. Above all, I never thought I'd ask myself one day: what happened to my body? And who knew? ”

In a cinematic gesture in the first person, both intimate and political, This is My Body examines the micro-histories that make up rape culture, memory as an unfathomable drawer.
 

this human world: UNDER THE GREY SKY

PL, 2024
81 min., OmeU

Lena works as a television reporter for an opposition media outlet. After the Belarusian journalist secretly livestreams the police’s brutal actions against peaceful demonstrators following rigged elections, she and her cameraman are tracked down by a drone and arrested. Her husband Ilya, who refuses to leave her, also finds himself facing accusations from a regime determined to break them both. The film is inspired by the real life of the young journalist Katsiaryna Andreyeva, who is currently serving an eight-year prison sentence in a Belarusian jail.

 

this human world: TWIN FENCES

RU/UK, 2024
90 min., OmeU

Twin Fences by Yana Osman is a quirky documentary that follows her journey through Russia, Ukraine and Afghanistan, with the focus on fences, exploring their meaning as both physical and metaphorical concepts. The film focuses on the PO – 2 fence, a concrete fence design that became a symbol of the Soviet era architecture and uses it as a starting point to examine how architecture divides and contains communities and nations. The film uses physical fences to depict the figurative ones created by history, war and ideology thus posing the question: “Who creates these fences?”

this human world: RENATE

AT, 2025
83 min., dt. OV

The 87-year-old Austrian author Renate Welsh has always addressed the theme of speechlessness in her books and writing workshops – until one day she herself is affected by it after a stroke. A moving portrait that follows her recovery and offers a glimpse into her eventful life.

this human world: ANOTHER SUMMER + Discussion

CH/US/CZ/AT, 2025
104 min., OmeU

ANOTHER SUMMER captures the stories of Afghan and Ukrainian refugees in Europe. It is unique not just because of the stories it tells but also because of how it was done. The film was shot in July 2022 by first-time filmmakers from Afghanistan (from the American University of Afghanistan), Ukraine (from the Central European University), and the US (from Williams College). The Afghan and Ukrainian students were/are refugees in various European countries, and none of the students had ever made a film before.

There will be a discussion about the film and how it can encourage processes of self-historicization in the context of flight.

this human world: HOMEGROWN

US, 2024
109 min., OmeU
“I have two words to say: Thank you, Jesus!” – Between religious zeal, political radicalization, and personal aberration, Homegrown accompanies three members of the “Proud Boys” as they tour the US, campaigning for Donald Trump in the 2020 US elections. While Chris and Randy declare war on “BLM and Antifa” and arm themselves for a supposed civil war, Thad, a Latino and “Patriot Against Racism,” attempts to reform the far-right movement – for tolerance and the fatherland.”

this human world: THE HUNTER’S AUTUMN

BG, 2025
85 min., OmeU

Pavel, a retired hunter living alone in his childhood village, is haunted by regret and estranged from his wife, Anna, a former violinist seeking meaning through charity work. Their silent, distant marriage changes when Pavel helps his nephew, a border patrol officer, search for migrants near the Bulgarian border.

When Pavel encounters Hasan, a young Syrian boy, he chooses compassion over duty and decides to protect him. Caring for the child brings Pavel and Anna back together, slowly healing old wounds and reviving their lost bond.

Set against the breathtaking landscapes of Strandja, The Hunter’s Autumn is a moving story about redemption, humanity, and the quiet power of love and connection.

this human world: HOW TO BUILD A LIBRARY

KE/US, 2025
101 min., OmeU
Two intrepid Nairobi women decide to transform what used to be a whites-only library until 1958 into a vibrant cultural hub. Along the way, they must navigate local politics, raise millions for the rebuild, and confront the lingering ghosts of Kenya’s colonial past:

this human world: SEEN UNSEEN: AN ANTHOLOGY OF (AUTO)CENSORSHIP

NL/TR, 2024
66 min., OmeU

In cooperation with Verband Filmregie Österreich and International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risks (ICFR). With support of FFW, VdFS und ÖFI.

The screening will be bookended by an introductory keynote presentation by Jordi Wijnalda, Brussels-based filmmaker and coordinator of the International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk. After the film, there will be a deep-diving conversation with two of the filmmakers from the film’s collective, Sibil Çekmen and Nadir Sönmez.

Filmmaking is light, literally and figuratively; whatever filmmakers choose to portray in their films has a chance to step out of the shadow and not wither in the dark. With the rise of authoritarianism across the world, the role of filmmakers and other artists and cultural workers has only become more crucial in the fight against human rights violations and oppression of personal freedom. Increasingly, however, this comes at a great price for the filmmakers themselves, too — being persecuted, brought before court and imprisoned in countries like Iran, Myanmar, Belarus, South-Korea, Georgia and Turkey.

Across six different short films by eight filmmakers, this eclectic and courageous film takes its viewers on a journey past the pressing matters of Turkey in this day and age: the 2013 Gezi Park peaceful protests which have resulted in much government crackdown and show trials, the deliberately underlit gay cruising spots in Istanbul, the lasting scars and remnants of the Armenian genocide.

How can you be silent in the face of all that? But also, how can you stop yourself from censoring your own voice and your own work, when constantly confronted with the threat of oppression? Within the film, there is also a particular role reserved for documentary producer Çiğdem Mater, whom the collective as well as the ICFR have been actively campaigning for since she was sentenced to a shocking eighteen years in prison back in 2022 — for an alleged “Gezi Park documentary” she never even made to begin with.

this human world: CONCERTO FOR THE OTHER HANDS

MX, 2024
79 min., OmeU
David dreams of being a pianist like his father, José Luis, who believes it impossible due to his son's physical characteristics: short arms, hands with four fingers and limited hearing. Thanks to his tenacity, David shows him that he can play in his own way and together they begin a musical path that culminates in a new challenge for David: premiering, during the pandemic, the difficult concerto for piano and orchestra that his father composed for him.