	{"id":121775,"date":"2026-05-06T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/?p=121775"},"modified":"2026-04-29T19:04:38","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T09:04:38","slug":"true-stories-comedy-drama-in-german-film-fest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/living\/true-stories-comedy-drama-in-german-film-fest\/","title":{"rendered":"True stories, comedy, drama in German film fest"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This year&#8217;s national HSBC German Film Festival is coming to the Palace Regent Ballarat from 8 May.<\/p>\n<p>Featuring true stories, comedy and new drama from German filmmakers and actors, the festival runs through to 27 May.<\/p>\n<p>Opening the program is Berlin Hero, the final film of director Wolfgang Becker, who died shortly after filming it.<\/p>\n<p>It is described as a bittersweet tragicomedy that explores collective memory.<\/p>\n<p>Three films in the festival arrive direct from the 2026 Berlin International Film Festival, or Berlinale, including the winner of this year&#8217;s Berlinale Audience Award, Prosecution.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_30038\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30038\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-30038 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/05\/22Laps_1_07752.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"675\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30038\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">TOP: Ida (Zo\u00eb Baier) und Tilda (Luna Wedler) in 22 Laps making its Australian premiere as part of the German Film Festival. Photo: Supplied.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Prosecution follows a young German-Korean state prosecutor who experiences a racist attack and takes the case to court.<\/p>\n<p>Also from the Berlinale comes Home Stories, set in provincial eastern Germany. The inter-generational story follows 16-year-old Lea, who auditions for a TV talent show, experiences an identity crisis and must decide who she is and what home story she can create from her family&#8217;s history.<\/p>\n<p>Lastly, based on a bestselling novel and true story, Austrian film Four Minus Three comes direct to the Palace Regent from the Berlinale. The drama is about a professional entertainer forced to face an unspeakable loss.<\/p>\n<p>The overall, much broader program has a focus on German, Austrian and Swiss films direct from Europe, with tickets on sale and more information available at <a href=\"http:\/\/germanfilmfestival.com.au\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">germanfilmfestival.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This year&#8217;s national HSBC German Film Festival is coming to the Palace Regent Ballarat from 8 May. Featuring true stories, comedy and new drama from German filmmakers and actors, the festival runs through to 27 May. Opening the program is Berlin Hero, the final film of director Wolfgang Becker, who died shortly after filming it. [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/living\/true-stories-comedy-drama-in-german-film-fest\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":244,"featured_media":121778,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-121775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-living"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>True stories, comedy, drama in German film fest - Ballarat Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Catch the German Film Festival at Palace Regent Ballarat from 8 May. Experience Berlinale winners, dramas, and comedies. Book now!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/living\/true-stories-comedy-drama-in-german-film-fest\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"True stories, comedy, drama in German film fest - Ballarat Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Catch the German Film Festival at Palace Regent Ballarat from 8 May. Experience Berlinale winners, dramas, and comedies. 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