Our guests 2022

The day after tomorrow, on Thursday 17 November, the wait is over for you and for us: the IFFMH starts at 7 pm with the Opening Night. Before that, however, there will be a pre-opening at 10.00 a.m. with the children's film 'The Daughter of the Sun' about an indigenous girl at Lake Titicaca. The Bolivian director will be present. For this special occasion, we are making you a special offer: with only one ticket purchased, you can attend this film as a couple!
And speaking of special offers: Don't miss out on the festival pass this year either. For only 80 or 50 euros you have access to all events of the festival including the Opening Night. It doesn't get any cheaper than that. Numerous exciting films with present guests are waiting for you.

And it is precisely these guests that we would now like to announce to you together with our partners. Among them are stars of the film industry as well as young exciting talents. Some from the region and Germany, many from far away.

It is a special honour for us that Gaspar Noé, a star of the international directing scene, will come to Mannheim-Heidelberg. With films like 'Irriversible' and 'Love 3D', shown as part of the homage to Belgian cinematographer Benoît Debie, Noé has established his status as the enfant terrible of the industry. Last year, 'Vortex', his latest collaboration with Benoît Debie, screened with us at the IFFMH.

Another great of international auteur cinema you can experience at the IFFMH is the director, artist and producer Albert Serra. He has won awards for his previous films at festivals such as Cannes and Locarno. His latest film 'Pacifiction' deals with a French local politician in Tahiti. We are showing this visually stunning work in the PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES section.

In a broader sense, another successful and multiple award-winning director who is coming to the IFFMH this year comes from our region. Dominik Moll was born in Bühl and grew up in Baden-Baden. We are also presenting his latest film 'The Night of the 12th' in the PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES section. It is a thrillingly unusual crime thriller about the investigation of the murder of a young woman.

Our opening film, the romantic comedy 'Diary of a Parisian Affair', will be attended by producer Frédéric Niedermayer, versatile supporting actress Georgia Scalliet and lead actor and acting star Vincent Macaigne. For the closing film 'Chiara', Margherita Mazzucco, who won Best Young Actress at the Venice Film Festival for her role of Clare of Assisi, has announced her attendance.

We are also expecting the French screenwriter and director Sylvie Verheyde. She is at the festival with the German premiere of her 1980s drama 'Stella in Love', the sequel to her internationally acclaimed autobiographical work 'Stella'. As fashion is of great importance in this film, the director will also take part in the panel discussion on the theme of our retrospective 'Cinema of Splendour - Fashion in Film'.

In addition, guests will be present at 14 of our 16 competition films. Like this year's programme, our overall rich guest roster is characterised by a great geographical and cultural diversity of their origins. Guests come from Costa Rica, Tunisia, Sudan, Croatia, Ukraine, South Korea and Australia, among others. To the great delight of the IFFMH team and its partners, the already existing diversity in the metropolitan region is thus increased during the festival period and enriches the cities. It is also remarkable that many different professions are represented with our guests: Directors, actors, cameramen, scriptwriters, producers, artists, costume designers, composers and scientists are among them.

Among the actors and actresses arriving, we would like to draw your attention to Anne-Louise Lambert. She is the leading actress in Peter Weir's masterpiece 'Picnic on Valentine's Day', which you can experience in the newly restored version as part of our retrospective. In addition, the multi-award-winning Romanian actress Anamaria Marinca is coming to Mannheim-Heidelberg. She can be seen in the competition film 'You won't be alone' by the talented Australian director Goran Stolevski.

And for the presentation of the filmic production of Heiner Müller's 'Philoktet' in the Studio Werkhaus of the Nationaltheater Mannheim, the director Jan Bonny will be joined by the actresses Aenne Schwarz and Rosa Lembeck.
And with that, it's time for a thank you. In film, the thanks classically go to superheroes. They make possible what would be impossible without them. The realisation of our festival with so many guests and exciting films from all over the world, however, is made possible by a multitude of partners. In a way, they are our superheroes. It is therefore very important to us to thank them. Festival director Sascha Keilholz expresses this gratitude as follows: "A festival lives from the works of art it makes visible, but above all from the people who create them, those who view them - and the encounter of both groups. The framework for this is created not only by the festival team but also by our partners, patrons and sponsors. It is only thanks to them that an event on the scale of the 71st IFFMH with 65 films from more than 40 countries over eleven days with over 200 events is possible in the first place. I am extremely pleased that, in addition to our most important sponsors - the municipalities of Mannheim and Heidelberg, the state and the BKM - a reliable network of trustworthy partners has formed. These include not only the cinemas and other locations but also the donors of our main prizes, the Manfred Lautenschläger Foundation and the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation." Furthermore, the IFFMH team would like to thank the Medien- und Filmgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg (MFG) and the Goethe Institut for their financial support.
Without a wide range of additional partners, it would not be possible to look after and cater for our guests. This year, guests and team members will once again be able to get to their appointments and events safely and in a climate-friendly manner with the help of our mobility partners. These mobility partners include: RNV, VRN Nextbike, Stadtmobil and the BMW Mannheim branch.
The well-being of guests is also taken care of. Our accommodation, hosting and catering partners offer the highest level of service: the hotels of the Leonardo Group, the NYX Hotel Mannheim and the Leonardo Royal Mannheim, as well as the Speicher7 in Mannheim. In the Stadthaus, we receive support from the non-profit association Lemonaid & ChariTea from Hamburg. With gastronomic equipment as well as various soft drinks and teas, they will help us to make your stay in the festival lounge a pleasant one. Of course, good wines and sparkling wine should not be missing. The Stromberg/Zabergäu winegrowers' cooperative has put together a high-quality selection for us. In addition, there will be wines from the traditional, organic Palatinate winery Sauer. Mannheim's traditional brewery Eichbaum rounds off the offer with its beers.

In addition to the Stadthaus, the cinemas and the Nationaltheater Mannheim, we are also guests in other houses and institutions. In cooperation with the Kunsthalle Mannheim, we present an exhibition in their atrium. In addition, our Cutting Edge Talent Camp is once again looking forward to the C-Hub in Mannheim, an inspiring location for up-and-coming filmmakers. next:mannheim provides this unique space. The same goes for the fashion house Engelhorn. The long-established company also supports us with marketing campaigns.
Such campaigns bring us and our guests together with you, as does the support of diverse media partners. This year, the Mannheimer Morgen is one of them for the first time. Other media partners are SWR 2 and the TAZ. And to ensure that all our publications and advertising materials meet the highest aesthetic standards, we rely on our design partner DAUBERMANN.com.

Our thanks go to these and numerous other partners. Together with them, the IFFMH team is looking forward to a successful festival that will bring you great film experiences and enriching encounters with the international guests, the stars of today and tomorrow.