German Film Festival 2026 at Palace Cinemas

Running nationally from early May, the 2026 HSBC German Film Festival brings a curated line-up of contemporary German, Austrian and Swiss movies to Palace Cinemas, Palace Nova and Luna Palace locations across the country. Presented in collaboration with German Films, the program balances acclaimed titles with under-the-radar gems.

Opening the festival is Berlin Hero, the final film from beloved director Wolfgang Becker. Set decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, it’s a bittersweet comedy about a struggling video store owner in the city thrust into a media frenzy over his alleged involvement in the biggest mass escape in the history of the German Democratic Republic.

A major highlight this year is the festival centrepiece Amrum, the latest feature from award-winning German Turkish director Faith Akin. Set in 1945 during the final days of World War II, the film follows 12-year-old Nanning as he navigates survival on a remote island in the North Sea. What begins as a portrait of resilience in an idyllic yet harsh landscape gradually reveals a more unsettling reality, anchored by a breakout performance from young lead Jasper Billerbeck alongside Diane Kruger and Matthias Schweighöfer. Three of Akin’s previous films are also being screened as part of a retrospective on the director’s work.

Also not to miss is the Special Presentation of Sound of Falling, Mascha Schilinski’s Cannes Jury Prize-winning drama. Spanning four generations of girls growing up on the same rural farm, it’s a poetic meditation on memory, trauma and inheritance – and Germany’s official submission for the 2026 Academy Awards.

Other highlights include the 2026 Berlinale Audience Award-winner Prosecution and the warm Swiss period comedy Hello Betty. Austrian film Four Minus Three delivers an emotionally charged lead performance from Valerie Pachner, while Home Stories explores family tensions and identity in small-town Germany.

The program extends to a strong family offering through the Kino for Kids program, presented by the Goethe-Institut Australia, including the time-travelling Alpine adventure The Secret Floor, the charming School of Magical Animals 4, and Pumuckl’s Big Mix-up, reviving a classic German children’s character for a new generation.

Closing the festival is a special 45th anniversary screening of Das Boot featuring Wolfgang Petersen’s director’s cut – a towering work of war cinema that trades spectacle for suffocating realism inside a German U-boat.

Tickets are on sale now. Visit germanfilmfestival.com.au for more information and to browse the full program.

Festival dates and cinemas:

Canberra
May 6–27 – Palace Electric Cinema

Sydney
May 6–27 – Palace Norton Street, Palace Central, Palace Moore Park

Brisbane
May 6–27 – Palace James St, Palace Barracks

Adelaide
May 6–27 – Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas, Palace Nova Prospect Cinemas

Perth
May 7–27 – Luna Leederville, Luna on SX & Palace Raine Square

Byron Bay and Ballina
May 7–27 – Palace Byron Bay, Ballina Fair Cinemas

Melbourne
May 8–27 – Palace Balwyn, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Church St, Palace Cinema Como, Palace Westgarth, The Kino, The Astor Theatre, Pentridge Cinema, Palace Penny Lane

Ballarat
May 8–27 – Palace Regent Ballarat

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