Showcasing a vibrant selection of contemporary German films and Filipino short films, the festival invites audiences to experience the transformative power of storytelling across borders.
The Goethe-Institut proudly presents the fourth edition of its annual German film festival, KinoFest, taking place across Southeast Asia and the Pacific from October to November 2025. This year, audiences in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand, Thailand, Vietnam, and Timor Leste will have the opportunity to experience the latest in German film, from thought-provoking documentaries to thrillers and comedies.
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Kinofest 2025 In Manila
The Manila screenings will run from October 16 to 19, 2025, at Shangri-La Plaza Red Carpet Cinemas (Cinema 3 & Premiere Cinema). Five Filipino short films join Kinofest 2025’s line-up of eight contemporary German films—a part of the festival’s mission of fostering vibrant exchange between two dynamic cinema cultures.
The selections explore the concepts of memory and reimagining, examining how varying perspectives clash and intermingle. Together, these films invite audiences to reflect on their personal ties and collective histories, emphasizing cinema’s ability to transcend geographical boundaries.
What To Expect
The opening night of Kinofest 2025 will take place on October 16 at 6 PM, kicking off with the 2024 documentary Riefenstahl: an incisive look at the controversial life and enduring legacy of filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, who worked closely with the Nazi party during Hitler’s fascist regime.
Combining rare archival material with contemporary perspectives, the film explores the tensions between artistic brilliance and political propaganda, showing how cinema can both shape and distort history. The screening will be followed by a hybrid Q&A with renowned producer Sandra Maischberger, offering audiences a chance to ponder on one of the most debated figures in film history. Riefenstahl will be presented in German with English subtitles.
A special highlight of the Manila festival is the “KinoFest Special: Stories Across Continents” program. Taking place on October 18, 2025, it features five Filipino short films that engage with the issue of climate change. These works portray the crisis not only as an ecological challenge, but also as a lived reality interwoven with love, myth, displacement, and grief.
Following the screenings, writer and transfeminist artist Jaya Jacobo will moderate a discussion with the filmmakers, including Krystahl Guina and Miko Reyes (“Baradiya”), Carl Joseph Lara (“Rumbles of the Earth”), and Whammy Alcazaren (“Water Sport”).
The Manila screenings will conclude on October 19 at 5 PM with an international exchange. Svenja Vanhoeffer, producer of the German film Vena, will join audiences for an in-person talkback session, sharing insights into the making of the film and contemporary German cinema as a whole.
The Kinofest 2025 Line-Up
Below is the official line-up of Kinofest 2025, as well as the “KinoFest Special: Stories Across Continents” program.
German Film Selection
Riefenstahl (Opening Film)
2024 | Documentary | 115 mins | Rating: R16 | German with English Subtitles
Exploring the possibilities of truths of the filmmaker who supported the Nazi regime and got away with it through archival materials of interviews. Ambiguity appears here in its darker tone.
Another German Tank Story
2024 | Comedy | 95 mins | Rating: PG | German with English Subtitles
While Hollywood is filming a series about the Second World War in the small village of Wiesenwalde, the villagers are chasing their personal dreams—until a sudden power outage risks ruining all their plans, and a tank appears in front of the mayor’s house.
From Hilde, with Love
2024 | Drama | 124 mins | Rating: R16 | German with English Subtitles
Berlin, 1942: Hilde is in love with Hans. Their passion often makes them forget the dangers of war. They become involved with the anti-Nazi resistance group “Red Orchestra” until they are arrested. Hilde, eight months pregnant, develops a quiet inspirational strength.
Giants of La Mancha
2023 | Animation, Adventure | 87 mins | Rating: PG | English
Alfonso Quixote is an 11-year-old boy with a huge imagination. As the rightful descendant and legitimate heir to Don Quixote, and just like his great, great, great, great-grandfather, he is constantly protecting his beloved town in La Mancha from monsters, which no one else can see.
KÖLN 75
2024 | Drama, Music-Biopic | 115 mins | Rating: R13 | German with English Subtitles
KÖLN 75 tells the rousing true story of 18-year-old Vera Brandes, who risks everything to bring Keith Jarrett to the Cologne Opera House in 1975—leading to the legendary “Köln Concert,” the best-selling solo jazz and piano album of all time.
The Light
2025 | Drama | 162 mins | Rating: R13 | German with English Subtitles
The Light tells the haunting story of the fractured Berlin-based Engels family, who are set on a journey into the unknown by the arrival of the mysterious housekeeper Farrah.
Vena
2024 | Drama | 116 mins | Rating: R16 | German with English Subtitles
VENA is the story of Jenny, a reluctant soon-to-be mother with a pending jail sentence. Living co-dependently with her boyfriend, Bolle, the two live in a drug-fueled bubble. That is, until she meets Marla—her midwife—who supports Jenny in her growth in self-acceptance.
Woodwalkers
2024 | Animation, Adventure | 100 mins | Rating: PG | German with English Subtitles
Carag is not a typical 13-year-old: he can shapeshift into a puma. At a secret school for shapeshifters, he soon learns to control his powers and, together with his friends, must protect the world of the Woodwalkers.
Kinofest Specials: Stories Across Continents
Baradiya
2025 | Drama | 30 mins | Rating: PG | Binukid, Bisaya with English Subtitles
A young Filipino indigenous trans woman faces her destiny and her spiritual past amid the discrimination and destruction of her ancestral land in the Philippines.
Ngatta Naddaki Y Nuang?
2022 | Social Realism, Eco-Cinema | 21 mins | Rating: R13 | Ibanag with English Subtitles
With memories of a flood and sights of industrialization, Oyo returns to his hometown in Cagayan in search of a carabao, before he finally migrates to another country.
Rumbles of the Earth
2024 | Sci-Fi, Drama | 13 mins | Rating: PG | Cebuano with English Subtitles
Mysterious disappearances of people rise as earthquakes shake Mindanao. 13-year-old Munya investigates the strange phenomenon after her mother goes missing during a solar eclipse. Fantasy and reality blur as the mythical serpent dragon “Bakunawa” devours a seemingly tranquil world.
Sa Ilalum sa Balbal sa Alitaptap
2024 | Drama | 20 mins | Rating: PG | Cebuano with English Subtitles
In a remote community, a girl named Joy faces a menacing land grabber, Rommel, who violently coerces her grandfather into selling their ancestral land, culminating in a dramatic and harrowing confrontation that threatens their future.
Water Sports
2024 | Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi | 19 mins | Rating: R13 | Tagalog with English Subtitles
Sad boys Jelson and Ipe harness the power of their love in an attempt to survive a world devastated by climate change.
Photos courtesy of Goethe-Institut Philippinen.
