Shortly before the presentation of the prestigious FIRST STEPS AWARDS for graduating films from Germany, Austria and Switzerland on 26 September, the organisers invite you to a "Long Night of Young Film" showing a selection of the nominated films at Wolf.

6:30 pm, Studio: Programme 1
In seiner Gnade (Director: Christoph Büttner, Germany 2022, 12', Animation)
One evening, the prison warden announces to the condemned man, exhausted by countless interrogations, that he will be executed the next day. The miracle at midnight: the cell door opens! The condemned man courageously sets out on an odyssey to freedom. It is a hellish ride that throws him back and forth between the fear of being discovered, the hope of redemption and the madness of his martyred mind.

Fatjona (Director: Steve Bache, Germany 2022, 28', Mid-length feature film)
Because she regrets giving her child up for adoption, a young woman sets out to find her daughter, now six years old. When she finds the girl again, she cannot bear the fact that her daughter does not recognise her, and so she makes a momentous decision.

5PM Seaside (Director: Valentin Stejskal, Germany 2022, 27', Mid-length feature)
On his 40th birthday, Nikos, a lonely truck driver, finds himself on a remote beach in northern Greece. He is waiting for his former military comrade Christos, whom he has not seen for many years.

19:30, Cinema: Programme 2
Kash Kash - Without Feathers You Can't Live (Director: Lea Najjar, Germany 2022, 90', Documentary)+ Film Talk

Director Lea Najjar says: "My hometown Beirut is torn apart by a corrupt political elite, protests against the government and one of the biggest explosions of the 21st century. But above the rooftops of the city, I discovered an unexpected beacon of hope: the pigeon gambling 'Kash Hamam'. Twice a day, the skies are populated. Flocks fly out of their cages all over the city. Their flight follows the choreography of an ancient tradition. Each player holds his own flock and lets it circle above his house, with the chance of attracting the neighbours' pigeons to his roof and thus expanding his flock. In the utopian time of Lebanon's recent disintegration, we embark on a rooftop-to-rooftop journey. The film observes a city in upheaval from the perspective of three pigeon fanciers and a girl struggling to release her own birds."

20:00, Studio: Programme 3
Ladybitch (Directors: Paula Knüpling & Marina Prados, Germany 2022, 97', feature film) followed by a panel on "Sexism in Theatre and Film (AT)", participants tbc.

Ela, a young actress, gets a role with the well-known theatre director Franz Kramer. The production is a great opportunity for Ela, but also brings pressure. Kramer constantly crosses Ela's boundaries and the situation comes to a head when Kramer sexually harasses her. Ela struggles to emerge as a self-confident character - and realises that to do so she has to take the same steps of self-empowerment in her real life.