Running from 14 to 23 November 2025, in its 38th edition exground filmfest is once again presenting an extensive film and supporting program in Wiesbaden (Germany). This year’s program encompasses both feature-length and short works in the categories of fiction feature, documentary, animation and experimental film. Accompanying discussions, lectures, exhibitions and a reading, in addition to the exground youth days, round off a brilliant selection of national and international films.
Thematic Focus: “Courageously Utopian”
Following on last year’s look at less commonly considered film countries and the thematic focus on “flight and expulsion”, exground filmfest is breaking new ground this year: in the section “Courageously Utopian” a freely conceived co-operation with the World Design Capital Frankfurt RheinMain 2026 places central questions about utopias, action grounded in solidarity and positive perspectives at the heart of the program.
The focus here is on stories of a fortifying nature that were not created in a vacuum but are instead deeply embedded in the challenges and conflicts of our present era. A selection of short and long formats from diverse parts of the world showcases feature films, documentaries and experimental works which connect current contexts with the legacy of the last festival: war and violence as causes of flight and expulsion are used here as a departure point to render various potential glimmers of hope visible.
The films screening in this section search the past for untapped potential for the future, they travel into outer space or devise new, earthly models of communal coexistence. The section “Courageously Utopian” invites the contemplation, inspiration and critical visualisation of future possibilities.
This year, exground will once again create a space for exchange and discussion, where films serve as a starting point for dialogues about a better future. These extraordinary films invite viewers to reflect on how we as a society might overcome the challenges of the present and lay the foundation for a more just future that is also more worthwhile.
Opening Film: MEMORY OF PRINCESS MUMBI by Damien Hauser
In keeping with the thematic focus, exground filmfest 38 will open on 14 November with the German premiere of Damien Hauser’s fantastic drama MEMORY OF PRINCESS MUMBI (KE/CH/SA 2025) at an alternative venue for Caligari FilmBühne, with Hessian State Minister for Science and Research, Art and Culture Timon Gremmels in attendance. Set in an AI-generated future, the story of Princess Mumbi is a breath-taking love letter to cinema and the power of imagination that fuels it. It’s 2094 and there is peace once again in the fictional land of Umata following a great war. Princess Mumbi auditions incognito at a casting session organised by Kuve, an ambitious filmmaker. The original documentary concept for the film is adapted to fit Mumbi and the film-production AI that has become standard repertoire is thrown out the window. During work on the film, the two fall in love and ultimately run off, so that Mumbi can evade an arranged marriage to a prince. Alas, in the end nothing in the future will ever be the same again. Damien Hauser spent an entire year creating an imaginative world for his film using various AI programs. And the result? It can hardly be categorized or described with genre signifiers. A blockbuster romance? A utopia? Whatever it is, one thing is certain: MEMORY OF PRINCESS MUMBI is Afrofuturism at its best.
Opening Film at exground youth days
The festival features another brilliant opening film in DJ AHMET (NMK/RS/CZ/HR 2025), directed by Georgi M. Unkovski, which will kick off this year’s edition of the exground youth days. Ahmet, a 15-year-old boy from a remote Yuruk village in North Macedonia finds refuge in music while contending with the expectations of his father, a conservative community and his first experience of young love – for a girl that is already promised to another.
The official Slovenian submission for the Best International Feature Film category at the 2026 Academy Awards, LITTLE TROUBLE GIRLS (SL/IT/RS/HR 2025), directed by Urška Djukić, is also screening at exground youth days. The film tells the story of Lucia, an introverted 16-year-old who joins the girls’ choir at her Catholic high school, where she becomes friends with Ana-Marija, a popular and flirtatious student in her junior year. However, when the choir travels to a monastery in the countryside for an intensive rehearsal weekend, Lucija’s interest in a dark-eyed restorer puts her friendship with Ana-Marija and the other girls to the test. Forced to find her way in an unfamiliar environment while discovering her sexuality, Lucija begins to question her convictions and values, which disrupts the harmony within the choir.
Programming Highlights
In the scope of the World Cinema series, exground filmfest is delighted to be able to bring further Academy Award submissions from a range of countries to Wiesbaden and present them to the local festival audience.
These include the kabuki drama KOKUHO (JP 2025) by Lee Sang-il. The film tells the story of 14-year-old Kikuo, who is taken under the wing of a renowned kabuki actor following the death of the boy’s Yakuza father. Together with the actor’s son Shunsuke, Kikuo dedicates himself to the centuries-old theatre tradition. The relationship between the two evolves over the course of decades – from drama school to prestigious stages – and is characterised by “scandals and fame, brotherly love and betrayal”. The film features Ryō Yoshizawa as Kikuo, Ryusei Yokohama as Shunsuke and “Last Samurai” cast member Ken Watanabe in the role of Hanjiro. KOKUHO celebrated its premiere in Cannes.
Chile’s entry in the Oscar race is the international co-production THE MYSTERIOUS GAZE OF THE FLAMINGO (CL/FR/BE/DE 2025) by Diego Céspedes, which the Wiesbaden audience will also have the great privilege of seeing. The year is 1982: eleven-year-old Lidia lives with her beloved queer family in a desert mining town in the north of Chile. When an unknown deadly disease begins to spread, a rumour also begins making the rounds that the sickness is transmitted between two men through a simple glance when they fall in love. While people blame her family, Lidia must find out whether this myth is true or false.
Second Edition of Amnesty International Wiesbaden Film Award
Traditionally, exground filmfest has taken a consistent stand for the protection of human rights. The festival’s co-operation with Amnesty International, an established part of the program for many years, is set to continue this year. In addition to the traditional prizes, at exground filmfest 38 for the second time a jury will present the Amnesty International Wiesbaden Film Award, endowed with 1,000 euros in prize money, for the best feature film treating the topic of human rights.
The full festival program will be announced following the annual festival press conference (29 October, 11 am in room 318 at Rathaus Wiesbaden) and subsequently available online at www.exground.com.
exground filmfest would like to thank all its sponsors and co-operation partners!
ex38_Partners and Sponsors 2025.pdf
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Press contact:
Wiesbadener Kinofestival e. V.
exground filmfest
Marta Moneva-Enchev
presse@exground.com
www.exground.com