Society seems to be walling itself in. We describe the past as a register of sins and the future as a predicament, leaving the present to chaos. We try to persevere with confessions and voluntary commitments. It is astonishing how much the general attitude toward life has deteriorated within ten years. Those who can, follow the example of the penguins from “Madagascar”: smile stubbornly and wave!

Against the backdrop of this gloom, we searched for films that offer as much analytical insight as they do opportunities for intellectual and emotional openness. These films are not about confirming what we have already heard, but about relationships in the midst of circumstances where everything seems to be slipping away, between people, but also between people and their environment, the world.

A young woman embarks on the experience of hard work as a dairy farmer in the mountains, and the two strike up a conversation. Pakistani mountain guides maintain a balancing act between their traditional way of life and the inevitable transformation of their culture; we wish them luck in this endeavor. A spaceport becomes a magnet for people who long to go beyond the horizon of Earth and are eager for a new beginning, which they enjoy talking about. Francesc and Francina are old and have lost the Michelin stars for their restaurant, but for some reason, watching their persistent hustle and bustle inspires a sense of optimism.

Jaques, who had become a key figure for so many people far out in the Canadian wilderness, is also growing old; but it seems that the vitality he was able to convey to others has not been in vain. The boy Koka, who lives with his father in great poverty on the Bering Sea, is not entirely abandoned to misery. And Landi's hardship drives him into the Cuban bush, where he becomes a hunter again and can thus provide for his emaciated family. The feature film Hanami, which came into our hands, is about a young woman coming of age who, after a deep crisis, finds a new connection to her home island. We found this story so exemplary that we decided to forego a competition film in order to make room for it.

It would be an exaggeration to say that the films in our selection inspire hope. But they bring calm to a breathless time, giving space for a journey to oneself and into the world, to others. Where old certainties fade, one must enter into relationships. Viewpoints and positions are static, but relationships are fluid.

The approximately 120 submissions in the short documentary film category deal with personal fates, social challenges, and different models of (rural) economic life. Young attempts at cinematic development were up for selection, along with high-gloss presentations and artistic experiments. Seven of these films appealed to us in a special way.

Most of them are quiet shots that demand our close attention. They are fascinating images, faces, and statements that inspire us to think further, listen to questions, search for answers, and appreciate the value of space and life. We look forward to hearing your thoughts on the selected competition films in conversation or in our audience book.

Mayonnaise! – in an almost hysterical cry for the crowning glory of her fries, which the young shepherdess Elyria is denied in a snack bar in Albania, all the energy she still has left after her escape from the traditional confines and family strictness of her decaying village home, but also from a hopeless love, is unleashed. And we, watching on screen, look into her face and hope that she can recharge her batteries – because after her escape, she will need new strength to get closer to the golden horizon that the filmmakers allow to shine through in the stark black and white of their narrative.

Breakouts and new beginnings are two themes in this year's selection that are explored in many different ways. There's Milo, the young bargee who can no longer bear his monotonous life on the push boat that only ever carries scrap metal under the command of his exhausted mother, and who runs towards the sunset. Then there is Sally, a soccer fan who works hard in Greek greenhouses to fulfill his dream of a professional career in Spain, and in doing so forgets that life is more than just his dream – and sets off on a moped. And here is the frail Iranian boy, for whom his first visit to the local bathhouse for men becomes a test of courage, because there is no father, no older brother or uncle to introduce him to this special world and its rules.

A theme that connects all the films in our selection is the shadows cast on the faces of the protagonists by the light that is refracted many times in their living spaces. Shadows of silent despair over the disappearance of Argentine forests, which were their home; shadows of loneliness, as the children can no longer find their way to the village in rural Bulgaria, even at Christmas, and their father celebrates the holiday at his wife's grave; shadows of uncertainty and alienation, because the mother's mental illness threatens a teenager's tentative start into her own life; shadows of resignation in a neighborhood in Hanoi threatened by decay, which we get to know through the eyes of a 10-year-old boy; shadows of disappointment, doubt, and hope in a village in East Greenland, where a boy searches for his dog with a friend; Shadows of digital promises that cause laptop nomads to despair of the real world on a holiday island; and shadows of bureaucratic serenity on the Andalusian border.

Where there are shadows, there is of course also light, and what would film be without light? Lights shine in many of our films. Not often in full glory, but bright here and there nonetheless. Despite all the shadows, most films cast a warm glow on the people in their spaces.

What sounds like a somewhat chaotic trip around the world is actually the list of countries from which we received animated films this year: Germany, Sri Lanka, Canada, Estonia, Italy, Great Britain, Croatia, Ukraine, China, Finland, Austria, Russia, Belgium, France, Hungary, Uzbekistan...

60 in total. We selected 8 of them because we particularly like the way they are made or because they tell a story that we find relevant. In many of them, the location plays a central and sometimes almost magical role.

The filmmakers repeatedly succeed in surprising us with materials such as wool, sand, collages, and drawings and their unusual use or arrangement, and in impressing us with loving details.

The stories told in the films in competition are as diverse as the countries they come from. There is the longing of East German citizens for a HIMMEL WIE SEIDE, VOLLER ORANGEN on their first flight to Mallorca and, at the same time, the fear of not fitting in to this place. Passengers on a cruise ship who, like crusaders, descend on a city in the south in search of the TOP 10 THINGS TO SEE, become prey themselves and are fleeced.

MAMA MICRA lives in her little car. It is her home and an expression of her independence. But when she gets stuck in the forest, this freedom is threatened. In FLOW OF BEING, the sandy protagonist climbs onto a moose to escape the confines of her garden and into the wild. In RAAF, the protagonist tries to leave his sad past behind on a journey between dreamscapes and forest realities.

In an attempt to free laying hens from a battery farm - FREE THE CHICKENS - the activists themselves are sent on a journey into nature that is not as safe as expected. Based on memories of a hike through the Belgian Ardennes, SILENT PANORAMA recreates the journey to places that once belonged to nature in delicate drawings. And then there is HOLD ON FOR DEAR LIFE, which portrays the lives of those who somehow manage to get through their daily lives in war zones, even though they would probably like to travel far away and leave everything behind.

As different as these journeys are, the focus is not on arriving, but on the journey and the departure. It's about the courage to just set off, even if the destination is neither reached nor touched. You are welcome to set off with our selection, because sometimes that's what matters most...