The White Nights fantasy film festival takes place in seven German cities at the end of January and beginning of February. The complete program full of highlights has now been finalized. We present it to you.
The Fantasy Filmfest White Nights is now one of three editions of Germany's largest and best-known genre festival. Over two days you can get promising thriller, horror and sci-fi films, some of them exclusively in the cinema before their regular release. FILMSTARTS is a media partner and we are pleased to be able to present you the program for 2025. Because this is full of highlights…
“Above The Knee”: amputation horror
At the center of the Norwegian thriller “Above the knee“ stands Amir (Freddy Singh), who actually seems to lead a perfect life. But he is plagued by a dark secret that he cannot tell anyone: he has always had the feeling that his left leg did not belong to him and is plagued by visions of how it will eventually rot. One day it comes full circle that it is now time to get rid of the alien leg. “Above The Knee” is the new film from the team behind “Good Boy” led by director Viljar Bøe. It caused a stir at the Fantasy Filmfest White Nights 2023.
“Companion”: Hotly anticipated horror
Right before it hits German cinemas at the beginning of February, you can already go to the White Nights “Companion – The perfect accompaniment“ see. The thriller, which stars “The Boys” star Jack Quaid, Sophie Thatcher from “The Boogeyman”, Lukas Gage (“Smile 2”) and Rupert Friend (“Homeland”), is awaited with great anticipation. After all, Drew Hancock's feature film debut was produced by the crew behind the horror tip “Barbarian” around Zach Cregger and seems to go in a similar direction in terms of mood and atmosphere.
The focus is on a very special form of toxic relationships – and there's not much more you should know beforehand. The trailer is also refreshingly short:
“Dead Talents Society”: Mind in Training
In the Taiwanese fantasy horror comedy “Society of Dead Talents“ A recently deceased teenager (Gingle Wang) finds herself as a ghost in the afterlife. However, she is really bad at making people afraid. The eccentric ghost diva Catherine (Sandrine Pinna) takes her under her wing. But results have to be achieved quickly, otherwise the novice spook will be thrown out again straight away. Sounds crazy, it looks like this in the trailer:
“I, The Executioner”: One of the best action thrillers of the year
The South Korean action comedy “I, the executioner“ Our editor-in-chief Christoph Petersen was able to see it at the Cannes Film Festival and was thrilled. The sequel to “Veteran – Above The Law” (which you don't necessarily need to know) is about the Major Crime Investigation Division, which this time has to take on a very special serial killer.
Dark black humor, tough handmade action and an exciting plot with really nasty undertones – that puts you in a great mood. Since it will unfortunately only be released in home cinemas in Germany, you should take the chance to see it on the big screen at the White Nights of the Fantasy Film Festival. Here is a trailer:
“MadS”: risks and side effects guaranteed!
David Moreau has delivered one of the nastiest home invasion thrillers of all time with “Them” – the last twist in particular is an unparalleled low blow! Now he's in touch “MadS“ back, a crazy drug trip full of surreal depths and surprising twists. Here is a trailer:
“Night Call”: action under time pressure
The Belgian-French thriller noir “Night Call – Survive the night“ It's about student Mady Bala (Jonathan Feltre), who works part-time as a locksmith and helps a young woman open a door on a night shift. However, he involuntarily becomes an accomplice in a major crime – and he only has until morning to find his mysterious client and prove his innocence. By the way, director Michiel Blanchart will be a personal guest at the screening in Berlin.
“Presence”: Ghost horror by Steven Soderbergh
“Present“ At first glance it seems like the usual haunted house horror. A family (consisting of Lucy Liu and “This Is Us” star Chris Sullivan as parents and Callina Liang and Eddy Maday as children) moves into a new house. Everyone has their worries. The parents' divorce is in the air, and the teenage daughter has to cope with the death of a close friend due to an overdose. But they are not alone in their property. A ghost was watching them.
The special thing about “Presence” is that director Steven Soderbergh, who is always experimenting with genres and stylistic devices, shot the entire film from the perspective of this spirit. At the world premiere at Sundance, this caused enthusiasm among the audience. Some people were so stressed by the film that they had to leave the theater and even leading actress Lucy Liu said: “I'm completely exhausted. My body reacts like I wasn't in the movie.” Here's a trailer:
“Street Trash”: A cult remake
“Street Trash” from 1987 enjoys cult status among trash fans. Now we can see the remake of the same name at the White Nights fantasy film festival. Even in the new one “Street trash“ Being homeless takes center stage. They have to fight for their lives when they find out that there is a perfidious plan to exterminate them all. Here is a trailer:
“The Surfer”: Absolute madness with Nicolas Cage
Actually, the eponymous surfer (Nicolas Cage) will only go surfing with his son on a beach in Australia. But the beach is occupied by the BayBoys. Led by the guru-like Scully (Julian McMahon), they beat up any non-locals who want to surf here!
But the surfer doesn't give up that easily – and so, even after his son is long gone, he stays behind in the nearby parking lot to sort out the situation. But “The surfer“ is not a typical grindhouse revenge film, instead the protagonist gradually loses everything, his shoes, his money, his car, his dignity, until he finds himself chewing in the corner of the parking lot like a homeless person…
“The Surfer” is one of the films that we were able to see in advance and that immediately impressed us. In the FILMSTARTS review, we applaud Nicolas Cage's slow descent from Lexus driver to parking lot bum as “simply terrific” and firmly expect it to be an “instant cult film.” Here is a trailer:
“The Wailing”: scary horror from Spain
Horror from Spain offers “The wailing“. In it, young people accidentally awaken to a seemingly invisible evil force, which of course has big consequences. On our Spanish sister site Sensacins the work is celebrated as one of the best horror films of 2024 – with a “captivating atmosphere and great scary moments”. Here is a trailer:
“Cassandra”: special screening in Munich and Cologne
Meanwhile, only in Munich and Cologne can you watch the first two episodes of the upcoming Netflix sci-fi series “Cassandra” at the FFF White Nights. The focus is on the oldest smart home in Germany, where a new family is moving in after years. This also activates the artificial household help Cassandra (Lavinia Wilson) again and she has one goal: she wants to become an indispensable member of the family and is determined to do everything she can to avoid being abandoned again – by any means possible You are available.
Date for the White Nights 2025
Advance sales for individual tickets for all screenings begin on January 3, 2025. And Here are the dates for the upcoming festival edition:
- January 25th + 26th: Hamburg (Savoy Filmtheater)
- January 25th + 26th: Frankfurt (Harmony)
- January 25th + 26th: Munich (City Cinemas)
- February 1st + 2nd: Berlin (Zoo Palast)
- February 1st + 2nd: Nuremberg (Cinecittá)
- 1st + 2nd February: Cologne (Residenz Astor Lounge)
- February 1st + 2nd: Stuttgart (EM)
Last season tickets/festival passes for the fantasy film festival White Nights 2025 By the way, you can currently also secure one for 75 euros per person – But only for Nuremberg. All other cities are already sold out.
