With more than 300 short films and accompanying events, the 40th edition of the festival highlights social weather conditions around the world under the motto "cloudy". Among other things, it deals with questions of solidarity, sex work on the Reeperbahn and worldwide, as well as a focus on the current situation in Sudan.

The program, timetable and ticket sales will be available from 14 May on this page.

Within the three competitions, the International Competition, the German Competition and the Triple Axel, the filmmakers - many of whom are present - compete for prizes worth 15,500 euros. This year, 86 films were selected from over 5,000 submissions. In addition, a convincing number of 62 short films in the program of the Junges Kurzfilm Festival Mo&Friese will be shown. The themes range from deeply personal explorations to direct and activist reactions to the world's failings.

In the Laboratory of the Present, curated film programs raise various questions and commentaries on the present and are discussed with guests in the accompanying "Forum" discussion format. This year, the Forum not only opens up in terms of content, but also poses the overarching question of artistic liberty and freedom of speech in the local cultural sector, moderated by Christoph Twickel.

This year's section focuses on three main themes: Solidarity is the festival's major focus with five programs (Laboratory of the Present 1: On Solidarity) and shows positions on intercultural conflicts, queer struggles and feminist achievements. It looks at movements that create versions of a more diverse, common future, also against the backdrop of a society that is increasingly drifting to the right. The other focal points are about creating order, cleaning up, locating and realigning oneself (Laboratory of the Present 2: Cleaning Up). The third section also takes a look at sex work worldwide from the Reeperbahn (Laboratory of the Present 3: Hamburg Positions on the topic of sex work).

We are presenting the exhibition "Fragile Traces: Archives in Conflict" in the Open Space, our on-site exhibition space. Current film and photographic works from and about Sudan show a country at war that threatens to drown in the multitude of international conflicts. The destruction of archives not only leads to the loss of historical and cultural heritage, but also to the invisibilization and suppression of marginalized perspectives. The exhibition in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut in Exile and the Goethe-Institut Sudan highlights the urgent need not only to preserve these valuable historical resources, but also to make them visible.

With our Industry Day, we bring the international film industry together. The newly launched Filmhochschultag, in cooperation with MOIN Film Fund, is specifically aimed at film students - with networking events and student film projects from local schools HAW, HfbK, HS Flensburg and Hamburg Media School. The Sam Spiegel Film and Television School Jerusalem, an international film school of honor, will present its program for Palestinians and Arabic-speaking students. In addition, the "Zeise Shortfilm Slam" and the "Hamburg Animation Club" will be making guest appearances and the "Voices" section will feature voices from Central Asia and Ukraine.

The program, timetable and ticket sales will be available from 14 May on this page.