Film Festival
German Film Festival in Sydney

Tue, 02.05.2023 -
Wed, 24.05.2023

THIS MAY, the 2023 German Film Festival presented by Palace, in association with German Films, showcases the best contemporary German cinema direct from major festivals in Europe plus a selection from its German-speaking neighbours, Austria and Switzerland.

This year has a stunning line-up of 33 films including key selections direct from the Berlinale, a music-focused retrospective, a focus on female filmmakers and the popular sidebar Kino for Kids, presented by the Goethe-Institut.

Festival highlights include:  

Opening the 2023 festival is the new film from Michael ‘Bully’ Herbig (Balloon GER19) A THOUSAND LINES, an exciting drama based on true events. Elyas M’Barek and Jonas Nay deliver star performances as journalists in the story based on the real-life 2018 fake news scandal involving a disgraced Der Spiegel journalist. 

The Festival Centrepiece, direct from its Berlinale premiere, is THE TEACHERS’ LOUNGE, a tense drama about an idealistic teacher who is pushed to the brink when she investigates a series of thefts at her new school, starring European Shooting Star Leonie Benesch.

Plus, the GFF has two Special Presentations this year, both direct from the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival:

• Vicky Krieps shines as charismatic Austrian writer Ingeborg Bachmann in INGEBORG BACHMANN - JOURNEY INTO THE DESERT, a stylish biopic which chronicles Bachmann’s unconventional life and tumultuous romance with Swiss playwright Max Frisch, directed by Margarethe von Trotta.

• A wild reinterpretation of the ‘Sisi' myth, SISI & I is a thought-provoking drama set in the late 19th century, which stars Susanne Wolff and Sandra Hüller and follows the lady-in-waiting of Empress Elisabeth ‘Sisi’ of Austria-Hungary as they live in an aristocratic commune in Greece.