Blickpunkte #4 „Mephisto“

When Inés learns of the military coup in her country, she desperately tries to contact her loved ones at home. But as the night progresses, doubt, pain and powerlessness begin to take hold of Inés, threatening to destroy her relationship with her grandmother and her sanity.

Director's commentary:
We shot “Apocalíptica” in 2019, in a year of intense political tensions in Latin America and the Global South. Living in Germany during this critical time filled me with a deep sense of powerlessness - as a Guatemalan, I could only observe the events from afar instead of experiencing them with my fellow human beings on the ground. Through the story of a grandmother and her granddaughter, the use of magical realism and the honor of incorporating real documentary footage from Latin American artists, we wanted to capture that feeling - and perhaps even find catharsis.
But when the pandemic broke out, I fell into a deep depression and couldn't finish the film. Now, in the midst of ongoing global crises, the political anxiety that we once felt was deeply Latin American has unfortunately become a universal experience. That's why we want to share “Apocalíptica” now - in the hope that it will make others like Inés feel seen, and help them release their own primal scream.

Diego Oliva Tejeda, born in 1998 in Ciudad de Guatemala, is a Guatemalan director and studies at the HFF Munich. His work has been shown at Künstlerhaus Bethanien Berlin and at various festivals. Since 2021 he has been a fellow of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and is working on his final project.

2025: Anxiety Anthem (Experimental Musical; 9 min.)
2024: Don Juicy (Satire; 17 min.)
2024: Apocalíptica (magical realist drama; 16 min.)
2023: The Thread: The Spell (magical realist drama; 12 min.)
2020: Curfew Calls - Episode 14: Star-Crossed (musical; 8 min.)
2019: Prelude (drama; 19 min.)

Between cowardice and courage, guilt and conviction: FAHNENFLUCHT tells the story of people who refuse to do military service in the Ukraine war.

Director's commentary:
What to do when participation in war becomes a duty? What do we do when we face the danger of having to die as a soldier for the state? In view of the increasing threat of war in Europe, these are questions that we as young filmmakers are confronted with. Questions that are rarely addressed in current debates about rearmament, conscription and “readiness for war”.

The protagonists of our film show that even in times of war, there is always room for action beyond the battlefield. For some, conscientious objection is an expression of a sincere desire to escape the killing - for others, it is an act of resistance against a political world order that produces these wars.

Emil Silvester Ahlhelm was born in Munich in 1998, trained as a wood sculptor in Oberammergau in Upper Bavaria and has been experimenting with the medium of film ever since. He has received several awards for his work, including the Bavarian and German Youth Film Prize. Emil Silvester Ahlhelm has been studying documentary film and television journalism at the HFF Munich since 2021.

Konradin Schuchter was born in Austria and studied philosophy, economics and journalism in Vienna, where he also worked as a freelance journalist. He has been studying documentary film and television journalism at the HFF Munich since 2021.

When Siham learns on the way home that her daughter is hiding in a bar from the shots fired by an extreme right-wing terrorist group, a desperate fight against time begins.

Muschirf Shekh Zeyn was born in Kamishli, Syria, in 1988. He has been studying film directing at the HFF Munich since 2019. His short films have been shown at Oscar-qualifying festivals worldwide (including Urbanworld, Woodstock, Odense, Tampere, Palm Springs, Athens, Interfilm Berlin) and have won several national and international awards.

2024: Future is Panorama

2022: Killing Bagheera

2020: A special day

Head of Departments

Leading actress: Amal Omran

Director, screenwriter, editor: Muschirf Shekh Zeyn

Producer, screenwriter: Seren Şahin

Cinematography: Jacob Kohl

Production Design: Michelle Kleist, Zhongzixia Yao

Concept Consultant: Ayşe Güvendiren

Costume: Susanne Julia Ritter

Sound: Stefan Möhl

Music: Arezou Rezaei, Ege Ateslioglu, Hans Könnecke, Sarah Hasti, Sharyhan Osman

Makeup Artist: Ilaria Donata Glum