Presenting the very best and brightest in Deutsche filmmaking, the HSBC German Film Festival returns to Australia for a month-long showcase of twenty films across drama, comedy, and documentary.
Running in venues across the country from 30 April to 28 May, six releases of the 2025 lineup come fresh from the Berlinale international film festival. On offer, too, are riveting documentary features examining some of the most influential – and controversial – artists of the 20th century.
Here are our top picks for the screenings not to be missed at this year’s festival.
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Two to One (Zwei zu eins)
In a Special Presentation slot, the German box office hit Two to One is a new comedy led by Sandra Hüller, fresh off her Oscar nomination for 2023’s Anatomy of a Fall, with supporting performances from Max Riemelt (Freefall, The Matrix Resurrections) and Ronald Zehrfeld (Babylon Berlin).
Based on true events, the film is set in 1990 as a trio of East Germans capitalise on the financial chaos triggered by the fall of the Berlin Wall, conspiring to steal a heap of East German marks… only for the currency to quickly become worthless.
Riefenstahl
A second Special Presentation feature, this time for documentary, Andres Veiel’s hugely anticipated Riefenstahl will be screened alongside Q&A guest appearances from the director in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne, in cooperation with Goethe-Institut Australia.
Filmmaker Leni Reifenstahl is one of cinema’s most polarising figures, on one hand a brilliant pioneer of documentary filmmaking – and later a leading innovator in underwater aquatic photography – and on the other a complicit operator within the Nazi Germany propaganda machine. Veiel draws from extraordinary access to the private archives of the Riefenstahl estate, exploring the legacy of an auteur who vehemently denied her close ties to 20th century fascism.
Cicadas (Zikaden)
Fresh from the 2025 Berlinale, Cicadas reunites star Nina Hoss – best known for her devastating performance alongside Cate Blanchett in 2022’s TÁR – and director Ina Weiss, following the pair’s previous collaboration The Audition (Das vorspiel), an entry in the 2021 Festival. A compelling drama filmed in and around Berlin, Cicadas tells of two women from completely different backgrounds who infiltrate one another’s lives in unexpected ways, featuring a standout supporting performance from celebrated young actor Saskia Rosendahl.
A Family Dilemma (Der Spitzname)
An additional element of the Festival’s lineup is their ‘Beyond the Borders’ section, showcasing a selection of releases from German-language filmmakers in neighbouring Austria and Switzerland.
The third film from director Sönke Wortmann – and the third in his trilogy of comedies, beginning with 2018’s Der Vorname and 2022’s Der Nachname – A Family Dilemma places high-tension antics in the picturesque alps of the Tirol mountain region. Balancing a concoction of career goals, disobedient teens and bubble-wrap parenting, a couple’s dream wedding hangs in the balance and brings no end of laughs and faux pas.
I Want It All (Ich will alles. Hildegard Knef)
A remarkable portrait of the trailblazing German actor, writer and singer Hildegard Knef, I Want It All showcases a remarkable volume of archival footage spanning six decades. Known for an opinionated and forthright public profile, combined with her style icon status and irresistible charisma, Knef remains both an archetype and antithesis of her era.
Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980)
A special anniversary event celebrating 45 years of German New Wave cinema, Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s titanic 14-part series Berlin Alexanderplatz will be screening over three weekends in Sydney and Melbourne.
Adapted from Alfred Döblin’s 1929 novel – itself a doorstopper at almost 500 pages in length – the mammoth 15-and-a-half-hour series follows the tragedy-stricken descent of protagonist Franz Biberkopf into the depths of Weimar Berlin. Presenting a heady fusion of existentialism, crime and surrealism in a celluloid experience rarely presented on the big screen, this is a screening not to be missed.
The 2025 HSBC German Film Festival will be running in cities across Australia from 30 April to 28 May. Tickets are on sale now, book here for screenings in your city.
This article was made in partnership with the HSBC German Film Festival.
