Filmfestival Radolfzell

This remarkable and life-affirming documentary by Oscar®-nominated filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady follows young people who choose an unconventional year at a traditional Norwegian folk high school in the Norwegian Arctic wilderness, seeking to rediscover courage, purpose, and community far removed from the digital world. Sled dogs become their teachers and mirrors, demanding patience, trust, and self-confidence—and offering unconditional companionship in return. Through intimate observation, breathtaking landscapes, and profound humanity, the film tells the story of a generation caught between digital alienation and a longing for genuine connection—at the edge of the world and the threshold of their own lives.

In his film FUTURE COUNCIL, director Damon Gameau (2040, That Sugar Film) invites eight passionate children and young people from around the world to join him on a journey across Europe in a yellow school bus. Their destination: the headquarters of the world’s most powerful corporations—ranging from global energy companies to food giants. As part of this “Future Council”, the young participants speak their minds, directly confronting CEOs and top executives with the question of what kind of world they intend to leave behind. It is an inspiring, humorous, and deeply moving documentary that reveals what happens when the next generation stops protesting outside the door and instead takes a seat right inside the boardroom.

FUTURE COUNCIL is a powerful plea for intergenerational justice and a road movie that encourages us to see the world through fresh eyes.

TELL THEM ABOUT US follows seven teenage girls as they come of age. As newcomers to the city, they must navigate not only the familiar challenges of adolescence—friendships, school, and self-discovery—but also adapt to a new culture and environment while negotiating their identities as immigrants and refugees.

Alongside their everyday lives, the director leads workshops in which the girls explore their hopes, dreams, and fears through writing, music, and acting. Drawing on these experiences, write and perform scenes inspired by their own lives.

Seydou and Moussa live in Senegal and share a dream: the two teenagers long to build a life in Europe and become famous musicians. Their dream of a better future is so powerful that, one day, they ignore every warning and set off for Italy, driven by youthful optimism and a thirst for adventure. But their journey is nothing like the road trip they had imagined. The crossing of the desert, the horrors of Libyan prisons, and the perilous journey across the sea soon become a fight for survival. The two friends must struggle not only to keep their dream alive, but to stay alive themselves...

Janik and Samuel are best friends on the verge of graduating from high school. While Janik struggles against his liberal, seemingly perfect parents, Samuel comes from a broken home and keeps his mother's alcoholism a closely guarded secret. Janik longs for chaos, while Samuel craves order. In the garden shed they share, the boys make plans for the future: after graduation, they want to take a road trip to Istanbul, where Samuel's father he has never known is believed to be living. But when Janik does something Samuel considers unforgivable, everything that has held their friendship together is suddenly called into question. They set off for Turkey together anyway—but the journey turns out very differently from what they had imagined.

WYLD follows three teenage friends—Ben (17), Momo (16), and Zoe (16)—over the course of a year as they come of age. Presented through a triple split-screen and shifting perspectives, the film explores classic coming-of-age themes through the eyes of a generation shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic, offering an innovative and authentic portrait of growing up.

Donbas, 2019. The prospect of a new Russian invasion hangs in the air, while the echoes of the previous conflict can still be heard in the distance. Against this bleak backdrop, five teenagers begin to think seriously about their future. With energy, imagination, and hope, they make the most of the last golden moments of childhood. They paint, take photographs, and dream of becoming actors or the next Elon Musk. They rebel, seek adventure, wander through minefields, and sunbathe by a nearby lake. Like teenagers everywhere, they long to escape not only the war but also the confines and boredom of small-town life. Then an unexpected opportunity to travel all the way to Nepal suddenly brings the future within reach.

For ten of his twenty years, Kalle is followed by the camera at different stages of his life. He is a “cosmonaut” because he grows up in a prefabricated housing estate near Berlin-Hellersdorf's Allee der Kosmonauten. His mother, first raising him alone and later remarried, does everything she can to prevent what eventually happens: Kalle goes off the rails. As a child and young teenager, he is determined not to become a “ghetto kid” who “only gets into trouble.” But drugs and the influence of the wrong crowd gradually alter his path. As Kalle spirals further downward, it becomes increasingly clear how deeply he has been shaped by the absence of his father. Spanning more than a decade, the film becomes a deeply intimate portrait of a young man struggling to find his place in the world.