After touring many major cities, the annual German film festival KinoFest 2025 officially arrived in Hue and opened with the film “Afire” at the Intercultural Meeting Point (94 Bach Dang Street, Phu Xuan District) on the evening of December 12. In addition to the Intercultural Meeting Point, films in the festival will also be screened at BHD Star Hue Cinema.
With the theme “reimagining family,” the festival is seen as an artistic feast warmly welcomed by audiences. Along with “Afire”, other notable films such as “Heldin” and “Niko: Beyond the Northern Lights” are also being screened during this event.
Here, viewers are invited to reflect amid laughter and conflict, comfort and resistance. Not only that, the films inspire, challenge, and reshape the way we view the world.
At the opening screening, “Afire” (directed by Christian Petzold), a 2023 drama that won the Silver Bear – Jury Prize at the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival, truly captivated the audience.
Running for over 100 minutes, the film revolves around two characters, Leon and Felix. Both plan to spend a peaceful summer in a small seaside house, Leon writing a novel, while Felix creates art.
However, everything changes with the arrival of Nadja and Devid. All four must share the living space, leading to conflicts and complexities. Set under a sky glowing red from forest fires, the film creates a tense atmosphere tinged with humor. It also portrays the fragility between creativity and desire, between laughter and melancholy, as well as between personal and collective conflicts.
This year’s festival also features animated films - a genre especially beloved by children. Scheduled to be screened on the morning of December 14 at BHD Star Hue, “Niko: Beyond the Northern Lights”, directed by Kari Juusonen and Jorgen Lerdam, promises to captivate young audiences.
Considered a warm and heartfelt animated film, the story follows Niko, a young reindeer who dreams of joining Santa Claus’s flying team. When Santa’s sleigh is stolen, Niko and his friends set out on a journey to save Christmas. Under the dazzling aurora, he learns that true courage comes from friendship and faith in oneself.
Lisabona Rahman, curator of the annual German film festival KinoFest 2025, shared that KinoFest 2025 presents a cinematic map of diverse and evolving ideas centered on the question: What is family?
This year’s films expand that concept, moving beyond traditional definitions and viewing family as something flexible - shaped by context, work, history, and emotion.
The festival also explores worlds that are sometimes obscured by care work. Domestic workers, nurses, and cleaners - most of whom are women - are placed at the center of their own stories. These narratives emphasize that their work nurtures the concepts of “home” and “family,” even though such labor is often undervalued.
A corner of the exhibition “To see or to be seen”
In addition to cinema, an exhibition related to German photography is also being held at the Intercultural Meeting Point.
With the theme “To see or to be seen,” the exhibition by renowned German photographer Birgit Kleber tells stories from the project “Vietnam – Germany – 20 Faces, 20 Stories”.
There, viewers have the opportunity to encounter portraits of outstanding young individuals from the Vietnamese community in Germany - whose contributions deserve broader recognition.
Before stopping in Hue, this celebrated portrait photographer had held more than 30 solo exhibitions around the world, including in Berlin, Frankfurt, Paris, and New York. Through Birgit Kleber’s lens, subjects are captured in natural light with carefully staged poses that highlight the eyes of each individual.
Mr. Oliver Brandt, Director of the Goethe-Institut Hanoi - the organizer of the German film festival and the photography exhibition - said he was delighted to bring these artistic programs to audiences in Hue. In recent years, the Goethe-Institut Hanoi has connected with and organized many programs and events in Hue, demonstrating the close relationship between the Institute and the people of Hue.