On September 4, the 10th International FILM WITHOUT BORDERS Festival came to a very successful close. The anniversary edition was also the festival with the highest attendance—the Kulturscheune was packed to bursting for almost all events.

Once again, glorious late-summer weather lured numerous visitors to the Eibenhof estate on the picturesque Lake Scharmützel. Alongside the culture barn, Cinema Bad Saarow also served as a venue for the second time. A total of over 20 feature films, animated films, and documentaries were screened and hotly debated. This time, the youth program was attended by students from Brandenburg better than ever before.

In films like THE FORESTMAKER (revolutionary ecological ideas for the African continent), IN GOOD HANDS (nursing crisis), WE MIGHT AS WELL BE DEAD (dystopian living environments), TIDES (natural apocalypse), OECONOMIA (critical look at neoliberalism), the most diverse aspects of this year's Festival motto THE_DAY_AFTER_TOMORROW illuminated. There is hope for the future, a point on which almost all guests involved in the intense discussions agreed.

Or, like the organic farmer Benedikt Bösel quoted his grandfather's life motto: „Not TOMORROW, TOMORROW, TOMORROW, but DOING, DOING, DOING.“

Among Guests of the anniversary year were, among many others, the directors Volker Schlöndorff, Tim Fehlbaum, Natalia Sinelnikova, Sophie Linnenbaum, and Albert Serra, who presented their films. The panel discussions included actress Katja Riemann, director Detlev Buck, bestselling author Ferdinand von Schirach, publicist Gero von Boehm, producer Felix von Boehm, and the business journalist Samirah Kenawi, the American expert Laura von Daniels, Kurnaz's lawyer Bernhard Docke, or the Irish school principal Kevin McArevey. In addition, among the guests were the producers Laura Kippel, Britta Strampe, Peter Hartwig, and Peter Rommel, director Lars Kraume, animation filmmaker Corentin Cholley, philosopher Peter Sloterdijk, actor Jörg Schüttauf, actor and festival patron Ronald Zehrfeld, Joanna Schliemann (SAR), Jörg Howe (Daimler), and many more...

„...that is why festivals, especially smaller ones like here in Bad Saarow, are very important. People talk about the films here. (...) We now have to cultivate a whole new generation that is enthusiastic about cinema. (...) And that's why I'm more of an activist for cinema than for trees,“ emphasized Volker Schlöndorff on the opening day and congratulated from the bottom of my heart.

 The „Haus am See-Stipendium“ was awarded again this year, this time to Kai Stänicke.

The FILM OHNE GRENZEN team thanks all contributors, supporters, sponsors, and the audience – see you again on the first weekend of September 2023!

Photo: Boris Trenkel for FILM OHNE GRENZEN