Filmmaking is a constant renegotiation of visibility, which produces the new and replaces and overlaps with the old. In 2024 the six members of the selection committee had the task of identifying the trends in current film production from the almost 2,000 short films submitted. The result was a program of 110 films from 38 countries, with many young filmmakers as well as well-known ones. With 25 programs, the section occupied the BALi cinema in the KulturBahnhof for five days.
Selection committee 2025: Boris Hadžija, Linn Löffler, Jessica Manstetten, Anna Melikova, Matti
Ullrich
About the 2025 program:
Short films have their finger on the pulse of time: agile, precise, poetic – and at the same time radically free. In a present marked by ideological tensions and rapid technological change, the short format has the ability to quickly reflect, contextualize, and critically question developments. At the same time, it opens up new possibilities, rethinks established forms, and challenges our expectations of seeing and understanding.
The 21 short film programs of the 42nd Kassel Dokfest explore the instability of our current lives, its triggers, consequences, and the strategies developed in response. We encounter a tension between loud political anger and quiet, personal vulnerability. Insomnia and unrest, triggered by wars, surveillance, arbitrary state power, and all the unresolved questions about the future and the environment, are powerful side effects. Music, as a vehicle for resistance and a sign of belonging, takes on a special role.
And in a wide variety of (auto)biographical works, filmmakers explore their own history, present, and future.
Ways out, dead ends, and possible routes through the labyrinth that seems to grow every day are offered and opened up. And we are not alone in the cinema either!
Navigating responsibilities and problems is a collective endeavor, as is laughing and crying together. The people sitting next to us become companions on the many journeys of discovery that lie ahead.
This year, the program leaves even more room for discussions and closer involvement of students through the expanded DokfestCampus programs. This does not mean that familiar features will simply disappear: this year there will again be a matinee for the Sunday morning buzz, a midnight program that reveals deep "cuts," and entertainment galore with SHORT & SWEET.
The short films of the 42nd Kassel Dokfest invite us to renegotiate responsibility and the future together – politically and privately, in relation to our environment and to ourselves.
Let us connect!