Philippe Falardeau’s tragicomedy Lovely Day will open this year’s festival in Hamburg on 25 September. The closing film on 4 October is Rental Family, directed by Hikari. With A Simple Accident and Two Seasons, Two Strangers, FILMFEST HAMBURG will show the films by Jafar Panahi and Sho Miyake, which won the Golden Palm in Cannes and the Golden Leopard in Locarno. The programme also includes the debut films Sorry, Baby by Eva Victor and East of Wall – The New West by Kate Beecroft. 

 

“FILMFEST HAMBURG celebrates love! Philippe Falardeau’s latest film comes directly from the Toronto Film Festival to the Hanseatic city. We are delighted to welcome the Canadian director and his two leading actors, Neil Elias and Rose-Marie Perreault, to Hamburg. Lovely Day is both funny and tragic, telling the story of a young man who, on his wedding day, not only meets the love of his life, but also the demons of his past. A touching film about hope, healing and the fragility of happiness, and the perfect start to our ten-day film journey,” says festival director Malika Rabahallah.

 

In Lovely Day, Philippe Falardeau follows a groom who wants to say yes not only to love, but also to himself, despite everything that stands in his way. The film is based on the novel ‘Mille secrets mille dangers’ by Canadian author Alain Farah: Alain is about to marry Virginie, but instead of joy, chaos fills his mind. Between an unreliable best man, quarrelling parents and a day that seems to unfold in new ways, he sinks deeper and deeper into inner turmoil, which ultimately brings hidden truths to light. FILMFEST HAMBURG screened Philippe Falardeau’s Monsieur Lazahr as its closing film in 2011 and My Internship in Canada in 2015.

 

In this year’s closing film, Rental Family, Japanese director Hikari sensitively and humorously explores loneliness, role models and the search for connection. Oscar winner Brendan Fraser plays an unlucky US actor in Tokyo who is booked by an agency as a rental father, husband or son. As he pretends to be close to strangers’ families, he begins to understand the value of authentic relationships.

 

Two Seasons, Two Strangers tells a story of closeness, loneliness and trust in two intertwined episodes: in summer, Nagisa and Natsuo meet in a remote coastal town; in winter, screenwriter Li encounters the reserved Banzo in a snow-covered small town. Japanese director Sho Miyake was awarded the Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival for his sensitive direction.

 

Sundance Audience Award winner East of Wall – The New West, is Kate Beecroft’s directorial debut.  She spent three years closely following the life of her protagonists, eventually blending performances from both professional and non-professional actors. Set against the stark backdrop of South Dakota, the film portrays a young horse trainer grappling with grief and financial hardship—ultimately forging an unconventional family of her own.

 

Eva Victor, previously known primarily as an actor, celebrates an impressive directorial debut with Sorry, Baby, which won the Screenwriting Award at the Sundance Film Festival. After a traumatic experience, literature professor Agnes loses her footing and finds her way back to herself over the years through friendship, humour and vulnerability.

 

Kelly Reichardt’s The Mastermind is a heist movie, subtle, sensitive and accompanied by an irresistible jazz soundtrack: unemployed JB Mooney plans an art theft in 1970s America to keep his head above water. But the spectacular coup not only brings a forgotten artist back into the limelight, but also puts Mooney himself in trouble.

 

With a keen sense of nuance, Argentine-Swiss director Milagros Mumenthaler tells the story of a successful woman’s mysterious retreat in The Currents. After an impulsive leap into the unknown, a repressed past begins to quietly creep back into her life.

 

The romantic comedy Amour Apocalypse by Anne Émond centres on Adam, who struggles with his fear of climate change and becomes increasingly withdrawn. An unexpected encounter with Tina, who works in customer support for therapeutic sun lamps, brings light back into his world.

 

In her third feature film, All That’s Left of You, Cherien Dabis weaves the story of a Palestinian family across three generations with the political reality of the West Bank. From the orange grove in Jaffa to the street protests of 2022, the film spans an epic arc of loss, resistance and the courage to break new ground.

 

In Dominik Moll’s straightforward detective film Dossier 137, the police take a look at themselves: when a young demonstrator is seriously injured during a protest, an officer searching for the truth encounters a system that protects itself and has lost all compassion in the process.

 

FILMFEST HAMBURG will take place from 25 September to 4 October 2025. More than 120 productions from around the world will be shown as world, European, German or Hamburg premieres. The festival cinemas are Abaton, CinemaxX Dammtor, Metropolis, Passage and Studio Kino. On 3 October, FILMFEST HAMBURG will celebrate the ‘Free Admission Day’. All festival films showing in the five festival cinemas on this day will be free of charge. The FILMFEST UMS ECK cinemas will also participate in the event with one free film screening each on 3 October 2025. The complete festival programme will be announced on 9 September 2025.