Feature film competition

Leyla, the sole survivor of a Taliban attack, desperately searches for her son Omid. Disguised as a man, she sets out on a perilous journey, encounters a child who tests her strength, and is ultimately forced to choose: save Omid—or protect the innocent.

Performance times:
01.03.2026 - 18:15
KommKino im KunstKulturQuartier
04.03.2026 - 18:00
Kinoeins im KunstKulturQuartier

Ferhat and Handan welcome their daughter Ada through the surrogacy of the artist Lia. But after the outbreak of the Russia–Ukraine war, Lia finds herself unable to part from Ada and remains in Istanbul. Handan grows increasingly upset about Lia’s close bond with the child and wants to send her away. Ultimately, Lia decides to escape the war and travel to her grandmother’s homeland, Georgia.

Performance times:
01.03.2026 - 20:30
Kinoeins im KunstKulturQuartier
06.03.2026 - 21:15
Kinoeins im KunstKulturQuartier

Derya and Aziz, a celebrated artist couple from Ankara, come under state scrutiny after an incident at the premiere of their stage play—and lose everything. In Istanbul, they struggle with unemployment, financial insecurity, and a growing distance from their daughter Ezgi. Soon, they are forced to choose between their convictions and their future as a family.

Performance times:
02.03.2026 - 18:00
Kinoeins im KunstKulturQuartier
04.03.2026 - 20:45
KommKino im KunstKulturQuartier

Defne, who grew up in an orphanage, can see ghosts as an adult. In search of the spirit of her missing mother, she travels to the ancient city of Side (Antalya), accompanied by the radical leftist Hüseyin, the nightclub singer Nazife, and a priestess from antiquity.

Performance times:
03.03.2026 - 18:00
Kinoeins im KunstKulturQuartier
05.03.2026 - 21:00
KommKino im KunstKulturQuartier

Kemal works as a security guard in an abandoned villa. A mysterious book changes his life: he is falsely accused and treated as a member of a secret organization—from that moment on, nothing is ever the same again.

Performance times:
04.03.2026 - 20:45
Kinoeins im KunstKulturQuartier
06.03.2026 - 18:15
KommKino im KunstKulturQuartier

The film also bears the title ‘The Story of a Man and a Country’. While director Nebil Özgentürk recounts the life of the living legend Zülfü Livaneli, he simultaneously—and almost inevitably—draws a sweeping panorama of the social and political transformations Turkey has undergone over the past nearly seventy years.

Woven from eyewitness accounts, archival material, and staged reconstructions, the documentary presents Livaneli not only as an artist, but as a steadfast international advocate of peace and freedom. A life inscribed in the memory of a nation; a call of conscience that resists the erosion of time. A major documentary.

After eighteen months of intensive work, the film was completed and premiered in Istanbul. Its first international screening will now take place in Nuremberg—in the presence of Zülfü Livaneli and director Nebil Özgentürk.

Performance times:
02.03.2026 - 19:30
Festsaal im KunstKulturQuartier

An ordinary workday on a construction site. The 40-year-old crane operator Thomas receives a call from his wife asking him to pick her up from the hospital. When he arrives, he finds her in tears. She makes a confession that turns their world upside down.

Performance times:
03.03.2026 - 21:00
Kinoeins im KunstKulturQuartier
05.03.2026 - 18:30
KommKino im KunstKulturQuartier

Levent, a renowned director from Istanbul, meets Aliye—a hotel maid who knows him and his films well—at the Söke Film Festival. Their encounter forces both of them to choose between reality and fiction.

Performance times:
02.03.2026 - 20:45
KommKino im KunstKulturQuartier
05.03.2026 - 20:30
Kinoeins im KunstKulturQuartier

Franka is a rebellious, punk-spirited woman. Her sister Maya lives a secluded life in the countryside and avoids change. Convinced that she needs to save her, Franka sets off with her on a journey to Berlin—one filled with conflict, laughter, and newfound honesty. But is that really the case?

Performance times:
02.03.2026 - 18:15
KommKino im KunstKulturQuartier
05.03.2026 - 18:15
Kinoeins im KunstKulturQuartier

The film tells the story of Lore, who spends six weeks in her Rhineland hometown after the death of her mother. She struggles against entrenched family structures and bureaucratic obstacles while asking herself: How does one grieve the “right” way?

Performance times:
01.03.2026 - 21:00
KommKino im KunstKulturQuartier
06.03.2026 - 18:00
Kinoeins im KunstKulturQuartier

Sixteen-year-old Ilay drifts aimlessly through the outskirts of the city. At home, his severely ill mother Maria lies dying. Unable to accept her impending death, Ilay increasingly withdraws from reality.

Performance times:
03.03.2026 - 20:45
KommKino im KunstKulturQuartier
06.03.2026 - 20:45
KommKino im KunstKulturQuartier

In Diyarbakır, Kadir sells köfte sandwiches every day to support his family. Yet in his imagination, everything revolves around flying. His desire to take to the skies brings him into conflict with his family and the conservative society around him—and even draws warnings from the authorities.

Performance times:
02.03.2026 - 21:00
Kinoeins im KunstKulturQuartier
04.03.2026 - 18:00
KommKino im KunstKulturQuartier