HSBC German Film Festival 2025 First Highlights Announced

Culture

12 Mar

This year’s festival features the Australian premiere of thriller Hysteria.

The HSBC German Film Festival is back in 2025, returning to Adelaide for three weeks from Wednesday, May 7 to Wednesday, May 28.

The annual event showcases the best contemporary cinema from Germany and its fellow German-speaking neighbours, Austria and Switzerland.

Although the full program is yet to drop, organisers have announced the first highlights of this year’s festival, headlined by the Australian premiere of writer and director Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay’s Hysteria. The award-winning thriller takes place on a film set in the ‘90s and follows the assistant director as she tries to uncover who is responsible for burning a Quran on set.

Other announced highlights include special presentations of the documentary Riefenstahl and heist comedy Two To One, along with a screening of the comedy-drama Dying, a movie about two siblings so caught up in their own drama they begin to neglect their aging parents.

Kino for Kids is also back, offering a broad selection of flicks for children. The first films announced include the comedy The Chaos Sisters and Penguin Paul, the heartfelt drama The Door-To-Door Bookstore, the coming-of-age story Winners and acclaimed documentary Circusboy, which follows a year in the life of 11-year-old performer Santino as he travels around Germany with his circus family.

The HSBC German Film Festival runs from Wednesday, May 7 to Wednesday, May 28 at Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas and Palace Nova Prospect Cinemas. Check out the first highlights of the program here.