GOETHE FILMS: Extra.Ordinary

Franky Five Star © JIP Film / S. Kuokkannen

GOETHE FILMS is presented by the Goethe-Institut at TIFF Lightbox

March 18 + 20 + 25, 2025
For more information, visit goethe.de/toronto/events.
For tickets, visit TIFF Ticketmaster.

What if our understanding of “normal” is the real fiction? GOETHE FILMS explores how unique perspectives unlock and illuminate the extraordinary in our lives with adventurous filmmakers who challenge our perception of normalcy through characters who dance at the edges of convention.

From a carefree child surrounded by an unconventional family to a young woman fighting against stifling hierarchies to an individual containing multitudes within herself — these surprising stories reframe “different” not as deficit but as a revolutionary shift of perception that opens up new worlds. Sonja Heiss’s When Will It Be Again Like It Never Was Before bathes childhood memories in surreal and radical tenderness, revealing profound humanity and tight bonds in a psychiatric community. Sophie Linnenbaum’s The Ordinaries brilliantly weaponizes meta-storytelling to expose how society’s narratives trap and categorize us, while Birgit Möller’s Franky Five Star dives deep into neurodivergent experience, suggesting a richer understanding of human potential.

Together, these works form a powerful and entertaining triptych examining how otherness enriches our collective understanding of human consciousness, community, and creativity, asking: What if we look at difference as an opportunity to see the extraordinary in everyday life?

March 18, 2025, 6:30 pm

When Will It Be Again Like It Never Was Before (Germany, Belgium 2023, 1h 56m)
Comedy-drama by Sonja Heiss, starring Arsseni Bultmann, Laura Tonke (Baader), Devid Striesow (All Quiet on the Western Front; Yella), Pola Geiger

Canadian premiere!

Growing up in a psychiatric clinic, Paul’s childhood is populated by the patients –played by a strong supporting ensemble of non-professional neurodivergent actors– who become his extended family. Actor-writer Joachim Meyerhoff’s autobiographical recollections include his childhood and teenage years living on the premises of a psychiatric clinic, where his father ran the child and adolescent ward. Director Heiss broke onto the scene with her award-winning comedy drama Hedi Schneider Is Stuck about a young woman with panic disorder, also starring Laura Tonke.

Berlin International Film Festival 2023 Nominee Crystal Bear
German Film Awards 2023 Nominee for Best Outstanding Feature Film and Best Direction

“An expansive yet intimate family portrait that effectively mines familiar domestic idiosyncrasies and intrigues. This is no ordinary family, however… As this film attests, the warmth of home can be found in the most unconventional of places.” — Screen International

Co-presented with the Embassy of Belgium in Canada

March 20, 2025, 6:30 pm

The Ordinaries (Germany 2022, 2h)

Sci-fi tragicomedy by Sophie Linnenbaum, starring Fine Sendel (We Children from Bahnhof Zoo), Jule Böwe (Grand Jeté), Benita Sarah Bailey, Noah Bailey

Preceded by a video introduction by actor Noah Bailey

Are you a main character or do you play a supporting role in your life? In this ingenious meta-narrative, Paula struggles as a mere “extra” in a repressive theatrical world where roles determine status. By deconstructing storytelling hierarchies, Linnenbaum creates a bold allegory for societal othering and classism. With its playful yet pointed critique, the film builds on our opening feature’s embrace of otherness and reveals how the very structures we use to define “normal” are themselves artificial constructs.

Bavarian Film Award 2023 Winner Best Direction (Young Film)
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2022 Nominee Best Film
Munich Film Festival 2022 Winner New Talent Award Best Director
Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival 2023 Emerging Filmmaker Special Mention

“Inventive debut with this political satire set in a parallel cinematic world” — Screen Daily

“As a product of pure creative expression, The Ordinaries is a stellar achievement.” — In Their Own League

March 25, 2025, 6:30 pm

Franky Five Star (Germany, Finland 2023, 1h 54m)

Fantasy comedy-drama by Birgit Möller, starring Lena Urzendowsky (From Hilde, With Love), Jarkko Lahti (The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki)

Toronto premiere!

Introduced by Laura McSwiggan, Honorary Vice-Consul of Finland in Toronto and Secretary of the Board of the European Union Film Festival

A quirky love story about finding your true self… or more than one. The wild but intimate portrait follows a young woman living with five distinct personalities who seem to dwell in an old-fashioned hotel, radically challenging our notion of singular identity and expression. Möller presents Dissociative Identity Disorder as a complex way of being that offers unique insights into our consciousness. By embracing our inherent multiplicities, Franky’s vivid imagination suggests that the idea of “normalcy” might be the real limitation.

Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film Winner Best European Film
Max Ophüls Festival Winner Prize of the Ecumenical Jury Best Film and Nominee Best Director

“Reminiscent of films by Michel Gondry and Spike Jonze, and their screenwriter, Charlie Kaufman, the film boasts a simple, witty and amusing interplay of narrative planes.” — Cineuropa

“Despite the fairytale-like quality and the psychological subtlety, Franky Five Star remains a romantic comedy at its core — just one you have never seen before.” — Film-Rezensionen

Co-presented with Finland in Canada

Language: with English subtitles; viewer discretion is advised.

Price: Tickets $10 at TIFF online or day-of at in-person TIFF box office or by phone 1-888-258-8433

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