The Buphagus

A New York film and at the same time the study of a young man suffering from an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The Berlin filmmaker Oliver Sechting (37) and his co-director Max Taubert (23) travel to New York with the idea of documenting the art scene there. However, the project is quickly overshadowed by Oliver's OCD, and the two directors fall prey to a conflict that becomes the central theme of their film. Encounters with such artists as film directors Tom Tykwer (Cloud Atlas), Ira Sachs (Keep the Lights On), and Jonathan Caouette (Tarnation) or the transmedia artist Phoebe Legere seem more and more to resemble therapy sessions. At last, Andy Warhol-Superstar Ultra Violet succeeds in opening a new door for Oliver.

The anonymous concrete construction “Excelsior” is just a stopover for many of its inhabitants. Soon, life will get better and everyone tries to get ahead in his own way: with “Invisible Make-up”, the 49-year-old Michael wants to re-connect with his previous success as a call boy. Claudia’s days as a dancer are over, but a series of new photos are supposed to help her get back on stage. Norman wants to help others find happiness with his start-up “ChangeU” and help himself to a new sportscar. Hardly anyone can escape the temptations of success.

Max "Adlersson" Herzberg, 20 years of age, from Dresden decided not to spend his life working. Ever since, he reviews knives and other products, unboxes limited fan editions of mainly gangsta rap albums, gives talks about himself, drinks, swears and bawls in town, humiliates others, cracks borderline jokes and crosses every boundary he sees - Max is a YouTube creator and makes a decent living off of it. Most of Max's friends have their own channels on YouTube, some even quite successfully. Max and his gang are dubious role models but without a doubt, they are celebrities of their generation having more than 300.000 active fans. Is Max a violence-glorifying influencer with far-right tendencies or a usual adolescent, just trying to find himself and happens to be born into a time where the lines between private life and public self-display are blurring? He might be both, possibly without being overly aware of it.

Marcel Goldhammer does not want to be pigeonholed – as an openly gay model, actor and former sex worker, then a journalist who converted to Judaism and did his military service in Israel. As a millennial, this is all just fodder for his social channels. Yes, even the sex with his punters. And next? Politics!

AFTER THE FUTURE is an exposé about the conflicted and complex life of a long term HIV survivor Ortwin Passon. Despite years of struggle with the physical and mental assaults of HIV, he continues to fulfill his need for unrestrained ecstasy. Privately he battles loneliness and grieves for his past lovers, now long dead. Publicly, Ortwin has a distinguished history of service with the Federal Agency for Technical Relief. For this service he is a twelve time recipient of Public Honours. In 2005 he was awarded the prestigious Federal Cross of Merit for his esteemed work and social engagement. However, he refused this award as an act of conscience against a Government he perceives to be oppressive of his deeply held beliefs with regards to civil liberties. These feelings of oppression are in direct conflict with Ortwin's unrestrained sexual proclivities. At group sex parties, he's having sex with other men under the influence of hard drugs, without using condoms.