समाचार

A pair of youths—bare-chested, bikes in tow—slip into the placid waters of an abandoned quarry, sunlight dancing on their heads like a cheap promise. It’s a moment of pure wonder (and mild peril), a child’s Olympus hidden amid crumbling industry.

Set in East Saxony, 2006, Punching the World follows 12‑year‑old Philipp and his nine‑year‑old brother Tobi as they navigate the pitfalls of post‑reunification malaise. Their family’s half‑built house stands as monument and millstone: hope and hubris cohabiting under a leaking roof.

The tone flirts with pastoral lullabies—soft pastels, lazy camera pans—until unseen fractures begin to hiss. What felt like a carefree country idyll reveals itself as a “ruinscape” (my coinage), where broken dreams lie just beneath the surface.

Adapted from Lukas Rietzschel’s novel by first‑timer Constanze Klaue, the film marries intimate sibling dynamics with wider cultural tremors.

Germany’s film industry may have been hit hard by the economic slowdown, resulting in an overall gloomy outlook, but it’s still celebrating the biggest number ever of local films and co-productions at this year’s Berlinale and looking forward to a diverse lineup of 2025 releases, among them a number of high-profile sequels.

Compounding the sector’s overall predicament was the collapse of the federal government in November, forcing snap elections scheduled for Feb. 23. The political crisis left an ambitious reform of the country’s federal film funding system only partially implemented and a matter to be tackled by the next government.

The industry nevertheless welcomed the current government’s last-minute extension and increase of two key funding incentives in December that has ensured planning security for producers, studio operators and production service providers.

In the meantime, the local film community is cheering the strong showing of German titles at the Berlin Film Festival.