Since the conflict in Ukraine and the war in Syria, Russia has been the focus of many debates. The fact that reality is more complex than television reports or opinion polls suggest can only be guessed at here, since filmic internal views rarely make it to Germany. A comprehensive program curated by Tatiana Kirianova, which features a selection of independent Russian documentaries and numerous guests, takes the 25th anniversary of the Russian Federation as an opportunity to bridge the gap.

We will screen early works by renowned filmmakers such as Alexander Sokurov, Sergei Dvortsevoy and Sergei Loznitsa, who have won international acclaim and awards for their feature films. These will be complemented by the films of a younger generation of independent directors, which includes Pavel Kostomarov, Olga Privolnova and Alina Rudnitskaya, who take a personal and often critical view of the latest developments in the country.

Finally! We've moved into our new home for lively archival practice. There are 10,000 films on the shelves, the editing suites are set up, on the walls are posters that Maria Eichhorn once made for her work 23 short films / 23 film posters that looked at our collection. Arsenal's past and present are acquiring a new perspective and we're celebrating - with our audience as always.

ALFILM will be presenting new feature films, documentaries and shorts for the seventh time from 6th to 13th April 2016. With its focus on artistically demanding independent and genre movies, it has become one of the most important Arab film festivals in Europe. A particular highlight of this year's program is a series of special screenings SPOTLIGHT "Cousins. Jewish-Arab identities". Over the past two decades, Arab cultural production, particularly literature and cinema, has started increasingly to analyze ethnic and religious minorities, including Jewish-Arab identities - "Jewish" and "Arab" are often construed as binary opposites in the Arab world and in Europe. This series examines historical and contemporary feature films and documentaries that reintegrate Jewish-Arab identities as a component of Arab and Jewish culture and memory.

Documentaries and feature films for cinema and television, shorts and feature-length works, Polish productions and international cooperations - the great range of different styles, genres and working contexts as well as the variety of visual spaces and compositions they create join the two camerawomen Karina Kleszczewska and Jolanta Dylewska who are always very much in demand. We are very pleased to welcome the two DOPS, who both graduated from the renowned film school in Łódź (PWSTFiTV) to Arsenal within the context of filmPOLSKA, the biggest Polish film festival in Germany, and to examine their impressive filmographies on the basis of two films each.

Spaces in films tell stories, illustrate, sound, create atmospheres, place limits, open perspectives. They are always defined, often construed, but always of great significance for the narrative, atmosphere and impact of the film on viewers. From seemingly empty spaces to complex soundscapes, sometimes giving a direction, sometimes confusing: The Magical History Tour shows 12 examples - filmic spatial constructions from across film history, styles and genres.

As in previous years, we are presenting a selection of films at the International Short Film Festival in Oberhausen that originally premiered as part of the 2016 Forum Expanded program and now form part of our distribution range: NOW: END OF SEASON (Lebanon 2015) by Ayman Nahle: While US President Ronald Reagan is out horsebackriding, Syrian President Hafiz al-Assad tries in vain to reach him by phone. Ayman Nahle’s short film lets us witness the phone call with White House staff as we watch Syrian refugees waiting in Turkey; THE RIGHT (Germany 2015) by Assaf Gruber: A 73-year-old security guard from the Old Masters Picture Gallery in Dresden writes a letter to the director of the Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź, asking to volunteer as a security guard there; LA CUPOLA (Germany 2016) by Volker Sattel: The portrait of a house without supporting walls, located in the middle of bizarre rock formations. The house once belonged to Monica Vitti and Michelangelo Antonioni. The emptiness of the "cupola", a deserted site, is the starting point for speculations.