Documentary Films
Short Films
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The Wind in her Hands
When the Wind Changes Course
Elena has been riding a foil for only three years when she sets her sights on the Olympics. Amid speed, sea and relentless ambition, a buried experience of sexual violence rises to the surface. A film about searching for balance—and finding the courage to loosen her grip.
Experimental films
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NEOZOON
The female art duo turns YouTube into a sociological archive of human behaviour. Drawing on found footage, they assemble incisive, often unexpected collages that explore speciesism and humanity’s conflicted relationship with other forms of life in the Anthropocene.
Sonar selected
Umbra
Where Nature Becomes an Image
Florian Fischer and Johannes Krell observe shadows, reflections and rare optical phenomena as images made without a camera. Moving from water surfaces to solar eclipses and the Brocken spectre, Umbra traces a quiet dialogue between nature and cinema—and asks whether perception begins before anyone is watching.
New on Sonar
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Vietnamese-German Perspectives
The program features intimate documentary portraits produced through Dreh’s Um, a one-year film development and funding initiative for emerging Vietnamese-German filmmakers. Several of the acclaimed short films reflect on family, friendship, and personal realities, offering self-determined perspectives that move beyond stereotypical outside representations.
Filmmakers in Focus
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Federico Neri
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Çağla Gillis
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Mark Michel
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Stefanie Schroeder
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Mani Pham Bui
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Dirk Hornschuch
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NEOZOON
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Ginan Seidl
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Florian Fischer
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Juliane Jaschnow
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Lan Mi Lê
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Robert Dobe
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Ayla Güney
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Daniel Ulacia Balmaseda
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Valentina Primavera
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Alejandro Weyler
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Ole Jacobs
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Lado Vladimer Khartishvili
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Jonas Matauschek
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Omar Shalash
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Arne Büttner
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Anna Friedrich
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Yalda Afsah
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Johannes Krell
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Emerson Culurgioni
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Assaf Gruber
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Anne Baumann
We wanted to kill all nasty ones
A true-life satire about the incredible purchase—and the seemingly impossible resale—of a mountain riddled with bunkers
Part serious documentary, part deadpan science fiction
Festival Movies
Awarded, celebrated, discovered: Films that found their audience at festivals – and that you can now stream on SONAR.
Hamburger Gitter
What Remains of the State of Exception
After the 2017 G20 summit in Hamburg, the state sought to reassert control. Hamburger Gitter reconstructs the protests and their aftermath, bringing together voices from the police, judiciary, media and activist movements to ask what happens when emergency rule becomes a template for state action.
