PR05 2025
Highlights from Cannes, Karlovy Vary & Locarno feature as Oldenburg presents First Line-Up of World Premieres & Debuts
Highlights from Cannes, Karlovy Vary & Locarno feature as Oldenburg presents First Line-Up of World Premieres & Debuts
The 32nd Edition of the Oldenburg International Film Festival is thrilled to present first line-up highlights of the premieres that dominate the 2025 Program, including films from Cannes, Karlovy Vary, and Locarno.
Three new films will shine a spotlight on Irish cinema in this year's program. Led by the latest offering of six-time Oscar-nominated director Jim Sheridan,
two premieres by emerging Irish filmmakers will make their debut in Official Competition. Supported by Screen Ireland and the Irish Embassy in Berlin, some of the most exciting talents in Irish cinema will be guests in Oldenburg.
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Re-Creation, IRL/LUX 2025, Jim Sheridan and David Merriman (German Premiere) Premiered in Tribeca’s Spotlight Narrative, six-time Oscar nominee Jim Sheridan and David Merriman’s courtroom chamber piece is a stage for reflections on truth, guilt, and memory. A fictional jury re-examines the contested case of Ian Bailey, long linked to the 1996 murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier. A case that oscillates between legal precision and human uncertainty. Vicky Krieps as a recalcitrant juror and an ensemble cast led by John Connors inflame the debate as Henry Fonda once did in Lumet's »12 Angry Men«.
In the debut feature of award-winning stage director, Kevin Treacy, and cinematographer, Jason Byrne, the Irish filmmaking duo offers up a cinematic love letter to outcasts. John Connors stars as suicidal, manic-depressive Clayton who checks-in voluntarily to a mental hospital and falls in love with the schizophrenic Anna (Jade Jordan) who can never leave. Scored by legendary Composer Phil Keiran, their unlikely connection is a tender and messy fight for love and survival in a hopeless place.
When their estranged father Colm dies, four siblings return to their childhood home to sort out his will. But the reunion takes an unexpected turn when Colm’s ghost appears — and refuses to be ignored. Dark humor, tender moments, bittersweet family loyalty. »Horseshoe« is like a rainbow over an Irish storm: melancholic, idiosyncratic, unforgettable. The film won Best Irish First Film Award at its recent World Premiere in Galway.
In his debut feature, the director/co-writer’s dog, Indy, stars as himself in one of the most heartfelt and unnerving ghost stories in years. When his owner Todd relocates to the rural family home of his grandfather (played by genre icon Larry Fessenden), Indy senses dark supernatural forces that threaten his human companion. Told through the eyes of the loyal canine, the unspoken bond between a dog and his owner is a testament to unconditional love. Following its World Premiere at SXSW (where Indy won the ‘Howl of Fame’ Award), it is already one of the most talked about genre films of 2025.
Set between newfound freedom and the oppressive restrictions of the old Czechoslovakia in the early 1990s, »Broken Voices« tells the story of 13-year-old Karolina, whose talent in a strictly controlled, prestigious girls' choir attracts the attention of the choirmaster and the jealousy of the other girls. Acclaimed with a standing ovation at its premiere in Karlovy Vary, the debut film of Ondřej Provazník won a Special Jury Mention for Kateřina Falbrová's portrayal of Karolina.
Across a single day, three friends grapple with the consequences of frustration and desire. Bordering on vérité, the film unfolds as a stark, unflinching meditation on misunderstood masculinity, intimacy, and human connection, exploring the forces that shape behavior without offering easy answers. Alejandro Castro Aria's bold debut subverts all expectations of a classic coming-of-age story about three tragic heroes who have lost all social skills. A seasoned tribal cop and his new trainee must track down a ruthless fugitive whose return to their rural Indigenous reservation threatens to ignite a violent gang war. Premiering at the Locarno Film Festival, Lou Diamond Phillips delivers a career-best performance, embodying a man burdened by guilt and sorrow, striving to right past wrongs. After last year’s »Bang Bang«, Vincent Grashaw brings his next film to Oldenburg, once again with an iconic actor in the lead and an intense story from the margins of society.
In the dark streets of Krakow, Scarlett and Rhett live as if in their own movie —connected by love, crime, and the shared dream of a sunny life on the Mediterranean. Somewhere between Abel Ferrara's »Ms. 45« and Godard's »Le Mépris« and »Pierrot le Fou,« Campanacci's cinematic puzzle traces the fragile line between desire and destruction.
An Egyptian archaeologist living in Berlin with her German partner and their two young children watches her carefully rebuilt life collapse. Between love lost, bureaucratic walls, and the unshakable memory of the Arab Spring, Nancy Biniadaki powerfully captures Maysoons quiet struggle to hold on to a sense of self in a city that no longer feels like hers. Sabrina Anali stars in this poignant portrait of a woman in a state of emergency – and the radical power of love.
In the heart of Isla Maciel, a once-feared hitman fresh out of prison takes on a menial job that spirals into an all-out, real-time descent through betrayal and survival. Filmed in one continuous, pulse-racing shot amid the unforgiving streets of Buenos Aires — where every corner pulses with danger — this gritty debut thriller drags its characters and audiences alike breathlessly into the chaotic code of a neighborhood ruled by violence and loyalty.
Deep in the Belgian Ardennes, boogie punk band Chevalier Surprise enters a posh studio – summoned to cover Machiavel’s cult anthem Fly. Guided by the whims of their eccentric label boss, their elite hermetic session tumbles into a delirious collision of egos and ambitions. »Summer Hit Machine« is a darkly comic satire, reveling in its own chaos. Following his award-winning debut »The Belgium Wave«, Vandewattyne delivers another playful punch to expectations and conventions, proving to be one of Europe’s most cheerful rule breakers.
Created with the support of Pêra’s production company Bando a Parte, as well as M101 Media, Iyuno, and TrickWilk, the trailer will launch nationwide in cinemas starting |
