Screening Religion
Once a month, we screen documentaries and movies rarely seen in German cinemas. Religion features in every film, be it as a catalyst for negotiation processes or a source of conflict, a marker of identity or a constitutive element of social background. Thus, we seek to screen films on religion whilst simultaneously screening for “religion” as a cinematic object.
Some of the films will be presented by their directors, others will be introduced by KFG scholars. We look forward to a curious, cosmopolitan audience to join us on a journey of discovery and in countless lively exchanges.
We organise the screening series in cooperation with the independent cinema Cinémathèque Leipzig. All films will be shown at nato, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 46. Free entry, donations welcome.
Summer 2023
Directed by Jürgen Schaflechner
20 September 2023 | 7.30 p.m.
Navigating around stereotypes of Islam and non-Muslim belonging in Pakistan, Thrust into Heaven showcases instances of so-called forced conversion of Hindu girls to Islam. The incidents often follow a sequence: a young Hindu woman disappears and resurfaces again as a married and newly converted Muslim. Some of these conversions are utilized to conceal criminal acts including kidnapping, human trafficking, and rape. Others are examples of ways in which young women navigate through Pakistan’s rigid patriarchal society. The film aims to give room to the various interpretations and ambiguities that emerge around the alleged forced conversion of Hindu women to Islam in Pakistan.
The film will be followed by a discussion with the director Jürgen Schaflechner.
König hört auf
Directed by Tilman König
26 July 2023 | 7.30 p.m.
The long-time youth pastor Lothar König from Jena does not fit into any system. In the GDR he was shadowed by the Stasi, after reunification he was tirelessly active in the fight against right-wing radicalism, often in the front row. He was personally attacked and eventually put on trial. The cinematic portrait shot by his son, the Leipzig filmmaker Tilman König, is nevertheless not a glorifying homage, but a critical tribute to a feisty character who has to reinvent himself with retirement. A documentary about the question of what it means to act and live politically across generations.
The film will be followed by a discussion with director Tilman König and sociologist Alexander Leistner.
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H2: Occupation Lab
Directed by Idit Avrahami and Noam Sheizaf
10 May 2023 | 7.30 p.m.
H2 is the name given to the eastern part of Hebron - the only Palestinian city with a Jewish settlement in it. Here lies the holy Cave of the Patriarchs, where Jews and Muslims believe their common father, Abraham, is buried. This is where the massacre of 1929, known as “year zero” of the conflict, took place; where the Jewish settlement movement was born, and where the policy of ethnic separation was first implemented by the military.
Through rare archive footage and interviews with Hebron’s military commanders, “H2: The Occupation Lab” tells the story of a place that is both a microcosm of the entire conflict and a test site for the methods of control Israel is implementing throughout the West Bank.
The film will be followed by a discussion.
Winter 2022/23
Directed by Sergey Kozmin
22 March 2023 | 7 p.m.
Some time ago they would come here to walk their dogs, play with their kids or jog. Today they are two hostile parties fighting over a patch of ground in a park. Every Sunday half of them come to pray by a wooden cross, and another half is there to defend a small spot of land, which they want to stay public. The “200 Churches” development project started in 2011 by the Russian Orthodox Church in cooperation with Moscow government provoked several severe conflicts in the city. The film focuses on a story of Torfyanka, a small park where contention between the believers and park defenders has turned into a severe struggle with night watches, physical fights and mutual offence.
The film will be followed by a discussion
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Midwives
Directed by Snow Hnin Ei Hlaing
25 January 2023 | 7 p.m.
Hla is a Buddhist and the owner of an improvised clinic in western Myanmar, where the Rohingya - a Muslim minority - are persecuted and denied basic rights. Nyo Nyo is a Muslim woman and trained midwife who works as an assistant and translator at the clinic. Although her family has lived in the region for generations, they are still seen as invaders. Over several years, we observe the two women as they face their daily challenges, but also how they pursue their hopes and dreams in the midst of an environment where chaos and violence are constantly growing.
The film will be followed by a discussion.
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Soviet Hippies
Directed by Terje Toomistu
23 November 2022 | 7 p.m.
The hippie movement that captivated hundreds of thousands of young people in the West had a profound impact on the other side of the Iron Curtain. Within the Soviet system, a colorful crowd created their own system, which connected those who believed in peace, love, and freedom for their bodies and souls. There was a widespread desire among the hippies to experience something more than the bleak promise given by the Soviet power regime. Experimenting with various states of consciousness catered to the sense of imaginary elsewhere. This elsewhere within became an escape from the Soviet daily reality.
The film will be followed by a discussion.
Summer 2022
KONGO
directed by Hadrien La Vapeur & Corto Vaclav
21 September 2022 | 7 p.m.
As the director’s of KONGO describe it, in Africa, no sphere of society escapes enchantment and magic. From abandoned women resorting to love potions to football teams over-energized by spells, till even in the high instances of politics.
In his church, Médard the apostle, hunts down the evil eye, which hides in the bodies of the patients he sees. He invokes spells, exorcises, but demons are crafty and the apostle himself is accused of being a sorcerer. It is an arduous task, that of healing souls. It is an arduous task to live in a world where beliefs are shaky.
The film will be followed by a discussion with Magnus Echtler and Asonzeh Ukah.
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Outback Rabbis
directed by Danny Ben-Moshe
18 May 2022 | 7 p.m.
On a road trip like no other ultra-Orthodox Chassidic Rabbis hit the Aussie bush looking for ‘lost Jews’. Dressed in black suits and fedora hats, the Outback Rabbis embark on a journey filled with surprising and emotional encounters with Aussie outback characters and laced with Jewish wit, music and culture.
The film will be followed by a discussion.
Dealing with Death
directed by Paul Sin Nam Rigter
13 July 2022 | 7 p.m.
The many cultures in Bijlmer, a suburb in the southeast of Amsterdam, all have their own rituals around bidding farewell to the dead. Funeral director Anita is tasked with finding out what the community would want in a new multicultural funeral home, which the funeral organization Yarden hopes to establish there.
The film will be followed by a discussion.
Winter 2021/2022
Download programme flyer winter 2021/2022
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! CANCELLED DUE TO NEW CORONA REGULATIONS !
Dealing with Death
directed by Paul Sin Nam Rigter
24 November 2021 | 7 p.m.
The many cultures in Bijlmer, a suburb in the southeast of Amsterdam, all have their own rituals around bidding farewell to the dead. Funeral director Anita is tasked with finding out what the community would want in a new multicultural funeral home, which the funeral organization Yarden hopes to establish there.
The film will be followed by a discussion.
! CANCELLED DUE TO NEW CORONA REGULATIONS !
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! CANCELLED DUE TO NEW CORONA REGULATIONS !
Outback Rabbis
directed by Danny Ben-Moshe
12 January 2022 | 7 p.m.
On a road trip like no other ultra-Orthodox Chassidic Rabbis hit the Aussie bush looking for ‘lost Jews’. Dressed in black suits and fedora hats, the Outback Rabbis embark on a journey filled with surprising and emotional encounters with Aussie outback characters and laced with Jewish wit, music and culture.
The film will be followed by a discussion.
! CANCELLED DUE TO NEW CORONA REGULATIONS !
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Between God and I
directed by Yara Costa
16 March 2022 | 7 p.m.
Karen is a Muslim independent young woman who advocates for Sharia on the diverse Ilha de Moçambique but is filled with doubts and contradictions about her identity and the community she lives in.
The film will be followed by a discussion.
Summer 2021
Download programme flyer summer 2021
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Inxeba | The Wound
directed by John Trengove
14 April 2021 | 7 p.m.
Eastern Cape in South Africa. Xolani, a quiet factory worker, travels to an isolated camp in the mountains to participate as a mentor in an ancient Xhosa circumcision ritual. While there, he secretly reunites with his old friend and lover Vija, a married man he sees only once a year, on the sidelines of the ritual. When their secret is discovered, Xolani is faced with a momentous decision.
The film will be followed by a discussion with ethnologist and Africanist Magnus Echtler.
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Lourdes
directed by Jessica Hausner
12 May 2021
Christine, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, is paralysed and the doctors see no chance of a cure. Hoping for relief, she travels to the Catholic place of pilgrimage Lourdes. Miraculously, her condition improves and she is finally able to walk again.
The film will be followed by a discussion with scholar of religion Bernadett Bigalke.
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Priests
directed by Chris Wright and Stefan Kolbe
9 June 2021 | 7 p.m.
online screening
For one year, two atheist filmmakers accompany a group of young men and women in the final phase of their parish training in Wittenberg. While at the beginning it is mainly about learning the liturgical "craft", in the course of time they are confronted with very fundamental human questions and the boundaries between faith and unbelief, comfort and despair become blurred.
There will be a discussion following the film.
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The Heart of Jenin
directed by Markus Vetter and Leon Geller
15 July 2021 | 7 p.m.
online screening
The documentary "The Heart of Jenin" tells the story of the Palestinian Ismael Khatib. who lives with his family in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank. In 2005, his son Ahmed is fatally shot in the head by bullets from Israeli soldiers while playing with friends. Ismael donates his son's organs to Israeli children, saving their lives. Two years later, he embarks on a journey across Israel to visit these children.
We will show the film together with "After the Silence" as part of the science festival "GLOBE21".
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directed by Stephanie Bürger, Jule Ott and Manal Abdallah
15 July 2021 | 8.40 p.m.
online screening
The documentary is Israeli Yaël Chernobroda's direct response to "The Heart of Jenin".
In 2002, her husband Doy died in Haifa when a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in a restaurant. Doy was a peace activist and worked all his life for reconciliation between Jews and Arabs. Eight years later, his widow Yaël decides to visit the family of the bomber in the West Bank. The two directors Stephanie Bürger and Jule Ott accompany Yaël on her journey and try to understand what seems unimaginable. How do people live in this conflict? What does one know about the tragedies of the other?
We will show the film together with "The Heart of Jenin" as part of the "GLOBE21" science festival. After the film there will be a discussion.
Holy Rights
directed by Farhun Khatur
11 August 2021 | 7 p.m.
Cinémathèque Leipzig at nato (Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 46)
Safia, a deeply religious Muslim woman from Bhopal in central India, is convinced that the conservative interpretation of Sharia law by male jurists and judges restrains Muslim women from social equality and justice.
So she joins a programme that trains women to become Qazis – Muslim clerics who interpret Muslim law and are traditionally male. Other women join Safia in fighting against the arbitrary nature of triple talaq, the immediate divorce declared unilaterally by the man.
After the film there will be a discussion with Professor Anindita Chakrabarti (IIT Kanpur, India).
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directed by Erika Cohn
15 September 2021 | 7 p.m.
Cinémathèque Leipzig at nato (Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 46)
When the young lawyer Kholoud Al-Faqih announced that she wanted to become a judge, she was laughed at. But only a few years later, she was appointed the first female judge in the Shari'a courts of the Middle East. The documentary follows her on her career path, her tireless fight for women's rights and her visits to clients, friends and family.
The screening will be followed by a discussion with scholar of Islam Markus Dreßler.
Winter 2020/2021
Since we currently have limited seating capacity, we recommend that you reserve tickets online. Reservations must be picked up 20 minutes before the performance starts.
Due to the current situation in the Corona Pandemic, it is also possible that we may have to reschedule or cancel some performances at short notice. Therefore, please always check this homepage before your visit to make sure that the screening takes place as planned.
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Der große Navigator - Gott ist auch nur ein Mensch
directed by Sigrun Köhler, Wiltrud Baier
7 October 2020 | 7 p.m.
Cinémathèque Leipzig at nato (Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 46)
The Swabian missionary Jakob Walter converted the “cannibals” in Papua New Guinea for 22 years. Now he is sent on a mission to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. There he meets people who have lost all connection to ‘religion’ or who never knew it. An incredible film about an impossible mission.
The film will be shown in German with English subtitles and followed by a Q&A with sociologists Thomas Schmidt-Lux and Uta Karstein from Leipzig University.
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Virgin Tales
directed by Mirjam von Arx
18 November 2020 | 7 p.m.
Online Streaming via ZOOM
Evangelical Christians proclaim the second sexual revolution: Chastity as a counter-movement to the “attitude” of modern sexual morality. In the United States, for example, one in eight girls already vows to enter into marriage immaculately. The seven children of the Wilson family, founders of the so-called “Virgin Balls”, go even one step further in their quest for purity of body and mind: Even their first kiss will be at the wedding altar.
The film will be shown in English with German subtitles, followed by a Q&A with Bernadett Bigalke and Sebastian Schüler, scholars of religion from Leipzig University.
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Emperor Haile Selassie I. His burial and the Rastafarians in Shashamane
directed by Verena Böll, Georg Haneke, Günther Schlee, Ambaye Ogato, Robert Dobslaw
16 December 2020 | 7 p.m.
The two-part documentary of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle deals with the burial of the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassi I and its background. Haile Selassi I is still worshipped by the Rastafarians as a god and messiah, but very few of them took part in his solemn funeral, a gigantic ceremony in Addis Ababa in 2000.
The film will be shown in its original languages with English subtitles. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Verena Böll.
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Bruder Jakob
directed by Elí Roland Sachs
27 January 2021 | 7 p.m.
The award-winning documentary tells the story of a young man in search of a religion that gives his life meaning. At the age of 23, Jakob turns to Islam and, increasingly radicalised, comes into conflict with friends and family. Elí Roland Sachs documents in observations and conversations how his brother Jakob and his religious views change over time.
The film will be shown in German (with English subtitles) and be followed by a Q&A with director Elí Roland Sachs.
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The Road to Mecca – The Journey of Muhammad Asad
directed by Georg Misch
17 February 2021 | 7 p.m.
Online Screening
‘The Road to Mecca’ follows the life path of Leopold Weiss alias Muhammad Asad from the fringes of the former Danube Monarchy to Israel, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and New York. Asad, who became an important cultural mediator and pioneer of a dialogue between Islam and the West, visits places where he has spent time in his life. At the same time, a multi-layered picture of Islam unfolds. At the stops of his journey, Asad’s reflections are juxtaposed with contemporary problems between Orient and Occident.
The film will be shown in the original languages (Arabic and others) with German and English subtitles, followed by a discussion.
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directed by Julia Meltzer, Laura Nix
24 March 2021 | 7 p.m.
Online Screening
Houda al-Habash is a conservative Muslim preacher. Already at the age of 17 she founded a Qur' an school in Damascus exclusively for young girls. Every summer, her female students immerse themselves in a rigorous study of Islam, in addition to their secular schooling. This puts Houda and her students in conflict with traditional attitudes, which see religious education and prayer in the mosque as a male privilege. Using Qur’ anic teachings, Houda encourages her students to pursue higher education, jobs and public lives, while remaining committed to an interpretation of Islam prioritising women’s role as wives and mothers. The film was shot right before the uprising in Syria erupted in 2011.
The film will be shown in Arabic (with English subtitles), followed by a Q&A with scholar of religion Mohammad Magout from Leipzig University.
Winter 2019/2020
directed by Mina Salehpour and Michal Honnens
15 October 2019 | 7 p.m.
Cinémathèque Leipzig (Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 46)
The film mirrors the partially fierce debates and protests in the run-up to the construction of the mosque for the Ahmadiyya community in Berlin-Heinersfeld in 2008.
Based on interview protocols with opponents and supporters of the mosque, neighbours and community members, the two directors let enter fictitious characters enter into an equally fictitious dialogue: The convert, the politically correct newcomer, the local pastor, the imam and the chairman of a citizens' initiative that wants to prevent the construction. Soon it is no longer just about building the mosque, but about the fundamental question of how we want to live together.
The screening will be followed by a Q & A. Moderation and introduction: Florian Zemmin, guest: Rainer Frank (actor playing the chairman of the citizens' initiative).
Souls of Zen: After the Tsunami – Buddhism, Ancestors, and the 2011 Tsunami in Japan
directed by Tim Graf and Jakob Montrasio
20 November 2019 | 7 p.m.
Cinémathèque Leipzig (Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 46)
The film is a documentary about the responses of Japanese Buddhism to the threefold catastrophe – earthquake, tsunami, and meltdown in the nuclear power plant of Fukushima – in Japan in March 2011. It impressively shows the role played by Japanese Buddhism in caring for the survivors, burying the dead and rebuilding the affected regions and reflects the complex role of Zen Buddhism in what is by definition a secular society characterised by natural disasters, religious pluralism and demographic change.
The screening will be followed by a Q & A.
directed by Nezahat Gündoğan
18 December 2019 | 7 p.m.
Cinémathèque Leipzig (Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 46)
The documentary deals with the descendants of the few survivors of the 1915 Armenian genocide in Dersim (Tunceli) and the 1937-38 Dersim massacre. It accompanies descendants who return to the homeland of their ancestors in an attempt to connect with their lost Armenian identity.
In examining issues of belonging, memory and the long shadow of the genocide that now weighs on many Islamised Armenians in Turkey the documentary draws a line from the survivors to the persecution of the religious minority of the Alevis in Dersim.
The screening will be followed by a Q & A with the directors.
directed by Barbet Schröder
15 January 2020 | 7 p.m.
Cinémathèque Leipzig (Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 46)
In recent years, violence against the ethnic Muslim minority of theRohingya has grown steadily and eventually escalated in Myanmar. Villages have been systematically destroyed, houses burned down and people were killed or displaced.
The documentary portrays Wirathu, a Buddhist monk and ideological leader of a radical movement against the Rohingya. The film also deals with the aggressive and violent nationalism in general that has spread in Myanmar.
The screening will be followed by a Q & A.
Confucian Dream. Opening Film of CHAI Film Festival
12 February 2020 | 7 p.m.
Cinémathèque Leipzig (Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 46)
For Chao Yan, every day begins with Confucius. Together with her little son she immerses herself in the teachings of the Chinese philosopher every morning. The other members of the family should also follow the moral guidelines of Confucianism in order to enable a harmonious coexistence - so Chao Yan hopes. Her husband, however, takes a critical view of this, and not only the marriage of the two is facing a crucial test. Li Mijie vividly documents how a young mother seeks answers to questions of raising children and family life in the millennia-old "Confucius' Conversations".
Get – Der Prozess der Viviane Amsalem
directed by Ronit and Shlomi Elkabetz
11 March 2020 | 7 p.m.
Cinémathèque Leipzig (Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 46)
The drama tells of the fate of the Israeli Viviane Amsalem and her long, desperate struggle for a divorce from her husband Elisha in the Jewish Orthodox Rabbinical Court.
Although the court can require the husband to consent to the divorce, it only becomes effective if he personally hands over a Gett, a divorce letter issued by the court, to his wife. Elisha refuses the divorce, although Viviane has been living apart from him for years.
The screening will be followed by a discussion.
Summer 2019
directed by Narges Kalhor
22 May 2019 | 6 p.m.
venue: Strohsack-Passage (Nikolaistraße 8−10, room 5.55)
In her award-winning documentary “Shoot Me” ( (co-directed with Benedikt Schwarzer) from 2014 Kalhor portrays the exile Iranian rapper Shahin Najafi. When he published a song named after a Shiite prophet that deals with many of Iran’s political and social problems, he was confronted with death threats.
Introduction: Adrian Hermann
REASON. The war between faith and rationality
directed by Anand Patwardhan
19 June 2019 | 5 p.m.
venue: Bibliotheca Albertina, Vortragssaal (Beethovenstraße 6)
In what is perhaps his most urgent and thorough exploration of Indian society yet, renowned documentarian Anand Patwardhan charts his country’s slide away from secular democracy and toward divisions of power, caste, and religious belief — and the violence that has followed.
Introduction: Nadja-Christina Schneider
Kumaré
directed by Vikram Gandhi
17 July 2019 | 7 p.m.
venue: Bibliotheca Albertina, Vortragssaal (Beethovenstraße 6)
Sri Kumaré is an enlightened guru from the East who has come to America to spread his teachings. After three months in Phoenix, Kumaré has found a group of devoted students who embrace him as a true spiritual teacher. But beneath his long beard, deep penetrating eyes, and his endless smile, Kumaré has a secret he is about to unveil to his disciples: he is not real. Kumaré is really Vikram Gandhi, an American filmmaker from New Jersey who wanted to see if he could transform himself into a guru and build a following of real people. Now, he is conflicted -- can he unveil the truth to these disciples with whom he has spent so much time, and who now look to him for guidance?
Introduction: Adrian Hermann
Mata tertutup (The Blindfold)
directed by Garin Nugroho
14 August 2019 | 7 p.m.
venue: Bibliotheca Albertina, Vortragssaal (Beethovenstraße 6)
The film is built around three loosely interwoven stories of young people who fall prey to a banned extremist Islamic sect called Negara Islam Indonesia (NII). The stories attempt to come at the phenomenon from different perspectives of wealth, age and gender, showing that this is a problem that crosses all these primary social distinctions, and hence has a salience for all major social groups.
Introduction: Leona Pröpper (Watch Indonesia!) & Saskia Schäfer
Mr. and Mrs. Iyer
directed by Arpana Sen
10 September 2019 | 7 p.m.
venue: Bibliotheca Albertina, Vortragssaal (Beethovenstraße 6)
"Mr & Mrs Iyer" was conceptualised as a love story set amidst violence but ultimately says a lot more. On the whole, the film reflects ace director Aparna Sen's humanism depicted through finely blended emotions. It mirrors a frightening reality in the wake of the WTC attacks and the Gujarat carnage through a masterfully told story. A masterful Sen captures contemporary India, its people and the social and political complexities within which they exist.
Introduction: Monika Wohlrab-Sahr and Sushmita Nath
