KinoFest 2025 Film Festival and the feelings of Vietnamese expatriates in Germany

3 documentaries will recreate the journey of Vietnamese people living abroad to find their roots, not only valuable for those living in Germany, but also for those living in Vietnam.

KinoFest 2025 Film Festival takes place from October 30 to November 2 at the National Cinema Center (87 Lang Ha) Introducing 10 outstanding contemporary German films under the theme “Reimagining the family.” Among these are 3 films about second-generation Vietnamese people settling in Germany.

This series of films are all in the documentary genre, revolving around the theme of searching for identity and origin of Vietnamese people living abroad. The three works have participated in many large and small domestic film festivals, contributing to the diversification of contemporary cinema in this country.

Movie "Everything belongs to me."

“Everything belongs to me” (Alles gehört zu dir, 2022, directed by Mani Pham Bui) has a duration of 13 minutes. The work follows Yen Nguyen - a German of Vietnamese origin on her journey back to her hometown of Neustrelitz and her confessions about her past full of complexes when she had to grow up among people of different ethnicities.

In her reminiscences, Yen Nguyen confided about how her father left Vietnam to settle in Germany 30 years ago, and how he overcame difficulties in life, which gradually helped her understand and love her roots more.

The film will be shown at 7:00 p.m. on October 30, opening the opening screening of KinoFest 2025.

Movie "Only at night can we be sad."

“Only at night can we be sad” (Erst nachts konnten wir traurig sein, 2021, Malanie Nguyen) has a duration of 8 minutes.

The film is set in 1987, a time when many Vietnamese people came to Germany as contract workers, hoping to build a new life. One of them is Ms. Nguyen Thi Le. On the occasion of her 60th birthday, she recalls her first days in Germany, filled with loneliness and homesickness, but also full of hope.

Movie shows at 2:00 p.m. on November 2.

Movie "Homeland is a bunch of sour star fruit."

“Homeland is a cluster of sour star fruit” (Zuhause ist dort, wo die Sternfrüchte sauer sind, 2024, Huy Nguyen), duration 24 minutes. The film revolves around the main character Huy and his questions about his parents, the gap between generations and the obscure story of why and how his parents came to settle in Germany.

To find out the story, as well as his own identity and origin, he returned to Vietnam to live with his grandparents for a while. Through daily activities, meals and conversations, Huy gradually understood his parents.

The movie will be shown at 7:00 p.m. on November 2.

Movie "Red Sky."

Also appearing at the KinoFest 2025 film festival are 7 other works in the fiction genre, notably “Red Sky” (Roter Himmel, 2023) which won the Silver Bear - the jury award at the 73rd Berlin Film Festival. The film's director, Christian Petzold, has been honored at many other major film festivals such as Cannes, Venice, and Toronto.

Movie showtimes in Hanoi

Thursday (October 30 - opening)

19:00: Everything is mine.

19:15: Red Sky (Roter Himmel).

Friday (October 31)

19 hours: Vena.

Saturday (November 1)

14:00: Niko and the Adventure to the Northern Lights (UK title: The Flight Before Christmas, animated film).

19:00: Cologne 75.

Sunday (November 2)

10:00: Greetings from Mars (Grüsse vom Mars).

14:00: Only at night can we be sad.

14:15: Heroine (Heldin).

19:00: Homeland is a bunch of sour star fruit.

19:30: The Last Tabu (The Last Tabu).

KinoFest 2025 Trailer:

KinoFest is an annual event of the Goethe-Institut in Southeast Asia aimed at introducing contemporary German cinema and shaping exchanges and dialogues between cinemas of different countries.

After the success of many previous seasons, this year KinoFest is expected to expand to Bac Ninh, Hai Phong, Hue, Da Nang, Da Lat, Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho. Ticket price for each film is 20,000 VND.

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/lien-hoan-phim-kinofest-2025-va-noi-long-nguoi-viet-xa-xu-tai-duc-post1073604.vnp