KinoFest returns with award-winning German cinema

Filipino film audiences can once again discover some of Germany’s most acclaimed recent films as KinoFest 2026 returns to Manila from 15 to 18 October at GH Ortigas Cinema, Greenhills Mall. The festival offers free screenings of contemporary German films, all with English subtitles

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From online festival to cinema

KinoFest began in 2022 as an online festival, initiated by the Goethe-Institut Southeast Asia. Its first edition was a joint production of eight Goethe-Instituts in Southeast Asia, presenting 12 recent German films to audiences across the region.

In 2023, KinoFest expanded into an offline festival, reaching the Philippines and other countries in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. The Goethe-Institut describes it as a platform for presenting contemporary German cinema while creating opportunities for cultural exchange across borders.

Why KinoFest matters

The Philippines has been part of KinoFest’s cinema circuit since that first offline edition in 2023. The 2026 Manila festival is organized by the Goethe-Institut Philippines, with KinoFest remaining a wider Goethe-Institut initiative across Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

For Filipino audiences, the festival provides access to films that might otherwise have limited opportunities for theatrical exhibition in the country. Its 2026 selection covers drama, documentary, political cinema, queer cinema, coming-of-age stories and animation. The program’s theme, “Stories of Belonging, Resistance, and Care,” examines how people navigate expectations, institutions and history through different personal experiences.

Films with festival credentials

Several films arrive in Manila with major festival recognition. The opening film, Rose, directed by Markus Schleinzer and starring Sandra Hüller, premiered in competition at the 2026 Berlin International Film Festival, where Hüller won the Silver Bear for Best Actress in a Leading Role. The Austria-Germany production also won the Thomas Pluch Screenplay Award and Best Film Score at Austria’s Diagonale, the Firebird Award at the Hong Kong International Film Festival, and Best Screenplay at the Istanbul Film Festival.

Sound of Falling, directed by Mascha Schilinski, won the Jury Prize at Cannes in 2025 and was selected as Germany’s submission for the 2026 Academy Awards’ Best International Feature Film category. It subsequently won the Golden Lola for Best Feature Film at the German Film Awards, along with awards for direction, screenplay, cinematography, editing, costume design, makeup, sound design and production design.

Meanwhile, Faraz Shariat’s Prosecution, a political courtroom drama about a young prosecutor investigating far-right violence, won three prizes at the 2026 Berlinale: the Panorama Audience Award for Feature Film, the CICAE Art Cinema Award and the Heiner Carow Prize. It also received three awards at the Emden-Norderney International Film Festival.

The lineup also includes Trial of Hein, which won the Jury Award at the 2026 Teddy Awards and prizes at the Neiße Film Festival and San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival.

A conversation with Phl cinema

KinoFest 2026 also creates a direct conversation with Philippine cinema through “Intersections,” a special program featuring Invisible Labor, Raging and Bodycount, followed by a filmmaker talkback on 17 October at 6:30 p.m.

With free admission, English subtitles and a lineup filled with internationally recognized films, KinoFest offers Manila audiences four days of contemporary German cinema—and a chance to encounter stories that cross national and cultural borders.

KinoFest 2026 runs from 15 to 18 October at GH Ortigas Cinema, Greenhills Mall.