The Goethe-Institut presents the fourth edition of KinoFest, its annual German film festival, running across Southeast Asia and the Pacific from October to November 2025. In Manila, screenings are at Shangri-La Plaza Red Carpet Cinemas (Cinema 3 & Premiere Cinema) from 16 to 19 October.

KinoFest 2025 includes eight German films and five Filipino short films. The program spans documentary, adventure, drama, comedy, animation and thriller, focusing on memory, reimagining, and confronting perspectives. Themes of family, belonging, and care prompt audiences to reflect on personal ties, collective histories, and cinema’s role across cultures.

The festival opens in Manila on 16 October at 6 p.m. with Riefenstahl (2024), a documentary exploring the life and legacy of filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. Using archival material and contemporary perspectives, it examines the tension between artistic achievement and political propaganda. The screening includes a hybrid Q&A with producer Sandra Maischberger. The film is in German with English subtitles.

On 18 October, Stories Across Continents presents five Filipino short films on climate change, exploring the crisis as both ecological and human, entwined with love, myth, displacement and grief. Writer and transfeminist artist Jaya Jacobo will moderate a discussion with filmmakers Krystahl Guina, Miko Reyes (Baradiya), Carl Joseph Lara (Rumbles of the Earth) and Whammy Alcazaren (Water Sports).

The festival ends in Manila on 19 October at 5 p.m. with the German film Vena, followed by a talkback with producer Svenja Vanhoeffer on its production and contemporary German cinema.

KinoFest 2025 is organized by eight Goethe-Instituts in Southeast Asia and New Zealand. In Manila, it is presented through the Culture in Focus program with Shangri-La Plaza Red Carpet Cinemas and support from the Film Development Council of the Philippines.