24/09/2024 - The former head of production at the MOIN Film Fund discusses her first edition as the director of the German gathering, the selection of films and the Industry Days

(© Filmfest Hamburg/Carolin Windel)

The 32nd edition of Filmfest Hamburg (26 September-5 October) is set to attract new visitors with the introduction of a “free-for-all day”. Festival director Malika Rabahallah talks about this, as well as her approach, the selection of films and the Industry Days.

Cineuropa: As the new director of Filmfest Hamburg, you have many years’ experience as the head of production at the MOIN Film Fund. Do you look at films in a different way now?  
Malika Rabahallah: Whenever I watch films, I look for a good story, emotions and social relevance. At Filmfest Hamburg, we also want to show international and politically controversial films because that is the DNA of our festival. It is a real honour that we can present the German premiere of Mohammad Rasoulof’s The Seed of the Sacred Fig [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Directors Talks @ European …
interview: Mohammad Rasoulof
film profile], which has been supported by the MOIN Film Fund. We are delighted that he is doing well and is living in freedom now. At the MOIN Film Fund, I always tried to support different voices among the projects that were submitted. Now, I am looking at completed films and end up with a potpourri. If a film is very similar to others in the programme, I prefer to present another voice.

What’s new at this year’s Filmfest Hamburg?
We are delighted to introduce a free-for-all day. My dream is to integrate the festival much more deeply in urban society. The survey at the end of the festival last year gave an insight into what kinds of audiences are coming to Filmfest Hamburg. Many festivalgoers are female, 51 years old and academics. That’s fantastic, but we also need to attract younger audiences, families, seniors and people from the suburbs. I realised all you need in order to go to the cinema is time and money. People have time on 3 October, German Unification Day. The financing of the free-for-all day requires a budget, which we secured thanks to the generous support of the Hamburg Cultural Authority. Moreover, we have some new festival cinemas. Altogether, Filmfest Hamburg will be present at 14 cinemas around the city, on different days. My goal is to attract more Hamburg residents to come to our festival.

What is on the agenda of the Industry Days?
The approach of our Industry Days is to bring more film professionals to Hamburg. The centrepiece is the Explorer Conference, which focuses on film production. There are also events on topics such as diversity and women. The makers of the mini-series Black Fruit will talk about how they were able to bring their project to life. And of course, we have various panel discussions on topics such as the new German film law as well as an event in collaboration with the German Film Academy. Networking is crucial, and Filmfest Hamburg provides a perfect platform for that.

The film industry is facing the introduction of various technical innovations. Do you see a trend in terms of films being made in a different way?
So far, I haven’t seen any movies that are based on AI-generated scripts or that have been completely produced with artificial intelligence. But I am convinced that AI will play an important role in our industry, and that will be disruptive. This is also a topic at the Explorer Conference. AI will change the art of scriptwriting. That also leads to the issue of who will receive an award for best script if it is AI-generated, for example.

In what way is Filmfest Hamburg different to other festivals?
We are going to stick to our DNA. We want to feature socially relevant topics and discover new voices. From very early on, we have brought emerging directors to Hamburg, such as Sean Baker, Justine Triet and Mohammad Rasoulof, whose career, for example, started here. For us, it is very important to discover and accompany new talents. We open the Hamburg Filmfest with Holy Cow [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Louise Courvoisier
film profile] by Louise Courvoisier, a tragicomedy about rural life in France, as it is important to show that there is more than just the city life. Our closing film is Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], which deals with self-determination when we are sick and don’t want to live any longer.

How do you intend to give the festival your own personal signature?
What we really need is a festival centre. So far, the Industry Days events have been taking place in the cinema. Fortunately, we have our MOIN Filmfest Café in the CinemaxX, and in the evening, we have a great party location around the corner. My dream is to have a beautiful location in the heart of the city of Hamburg. I am eyeing the Alster Pavilion, which is located on the big lake in the city where the open-air screenings take place. And of course, my ambition is to attract all citizens of Hamburg to come to the festival. No matter how different we may be, we can all sit next to each other in the cinema and laugh and cry together. That’s empathy!