On the occasion of this year's International Women's Day on March 8, the Braunschweig International Film Festival (BIFF) and the ASTOR Filmtheater invite you to two film screenings. NAWI - DEAR FUTURE ME and THE TUNDRA WITHIN ME will be shown at ASTOR as part of two special events.
International Women's Day has been celebrated in Germany since 1911. This day is now celebrated worldwide in honor of women. Where women used to fight for the right to vote, equal rights and emancipation, in many countries today there are calls for more women in management positions and equal pay for women and men. However, the basic idea always remains the same: women are fighting for the same rights that are granted to men and for a self-determined and free life.
"For me, March 8 is more than just a symbolic date - it stands for visibility, solidarity and a clear mandate to push for equality. Films make female realities of life visible, question structures, open up new perspectives and sometimes hold up a mirror to us - the medium of film is easily accessible and, in my opinion, plays a central role in cultural education," explains Karina Gauerhof.
"As Artistic Director of the Braunschweig International Film Festival, I see it as our responsibility to create spaces for diverse voices and, in particular, to offer female filmmakers a strong platform - both in front of and behind the camera. International Women's Day reminds us how powerful cinema can be - as a place of dialog and change, and sometimes also of rebellion," says Gauerhof.
The fight for self-determination
Nawi is the main character in the film NAWI - DEAR FUTURE ME and has a precise plan for her future, but this is destroyed when her father plans to marry her off to a stranger in exchange for bridewealth. But Nawi fights for her future and flees on the night of her wedding. Her sense of responsibility is put to the test, however, when she learns that her newborn sister is to enter the marriage in her place. The film, based on true events, depicts a struggle for self-realization and a better future for the lives of many girls in the community. The film was selected as Kenya's official 2025 Oscar entry and won 25 international awards, including the Special Prize of the Peace Prize of German Cinema - The Bridge.
"We deliberately chose International Women's Day as the release date for NAWI because the film looks at where equality is still a long way off for many girls: the right to self-determination, education and the chance to build their own future. For us, this day is the strongest stage to bring Nawi's story to the cinemas - as an invitation to look, listen and, with the help of the NAWI initiative behind the film, make change possible together," explains Kevin Schmutzler, one of the directors.
NAWI - DEAR FUTURE ME will be presented on Thursday, March 5, at 7:30 pm at the ASTOR Filmtheater in the presence of Tobias Schmutzler (director), Lydia Wensch (producer) and Michelle Lemuya Ikeny (lead actress), who is traveling all the way from Kenya for the film's cinema tour.
Tradition versus modernity: a life between two worlds
"International Women's Day reminds us how important it is to make female perspectives visible - especially those that have long been underrepresented in cinema. THE TUNDRA WITHIN ME by Sara Margrethe Oskal is a very special and incredibly empowering film in this context," describes Gauerhof.
In THE TUNDRA WITHIN ME, Norwegian-Sami director Sara Margrethe Oskal tells the story of a woman whose career as an artist is met with incomprehension and rejection in her home country. After years in Oslo, Sami artist Lena returns to her home in Sápmi, Norway, with her son. There she meets the reindeer herder Máhtte and a conflict between tradition and modernity begins. In the end, the question arises for both of them: can their ways of life ever be reconciled?
Oskal presented THE TUNDRA WITHIN ME 2024 in the main competition at the Braunschweig International Film Festival and was awarded the women's film prize Die TILDA. The film convinced the jury "[through its] balancing act between the collective and the individual self as well as through the courage to question patriarchal gender roles as a female artist. [...] [Furthermore] the authentic, deliberately non-ethnological portrayal of the millennia-old Sámi culture, its crafts, spirituality, music and the vastness and beauty of the country [...]" (Statement of the TILDA jury 2024).
"The film tells the story of a woman who seeks her own path between her origins, expectations and self-determination - quietly, powerfully and with great emotional truthfulness. The film not only opens up an intimate view of female identity, but also of an indigenous reality of life that is rarely the focus of European cinema," says Gauerhof.
On Saturday, March 14, at 5 pm, BIFF presents THE TUNDRA WITHIN ME in cooperation with film.macht.kritisch. (Berlin) at ASTOR. Afterwards, director Sara Margrethe Oskal and Canan Turan, founder of film.macht.kritisch. and former TILDA jury member, will be on site for an audience discussion.
Tickets for both screenings are available at https://braunschweig.premiumkino.de/specials/ veranstaltungen.
"Especially on March 8, cinema shows how political and personal it can be: by focusing on complex female figures, making cultural diversity visible and telling the story of self-empowerment not as a buzzword, but as a lived process. Such films are essential because they broaden our perspective - and because they make voices audible that we urgently need," says Gauerhof.
THE TUNDRA WITHIN ME
Norway 2023 | 95 min. | color | OmdU
Director: Sara Margrethe Oskal
Trailer
NAWI - DEAR FUTURE ME
Kenya, Germany 2024 | 104 min. | color | OmdU
Director: Tobias Schmutzler, Kevin Schmutzler, Vallentine Chelluget, Apuu Mourine
FSK: 12
Trailer