Closing Feature Film: "Isola" (Germany)

by Nora Jaenicke

90min/Germany/Germany Premiere

*The Original Version in English will be screened

*The Screening will be followed by a Q&A with the director as well as the 2026 winner announcements and the screening of the winning music video.

On a remote Italian island, Joanna, a woman in her early forties, abandoned her dreams of becoming an artist years ago when she married Oskar, a much older, now disabled geologist. Now, isolated in a crumbling villa overlooking the sea, her days have become quiet, her youth fading into routine and resignation. Meanwhile, Joaquin, a young art teacher staying on the island, strikes up an affair with Joanna, offering her a brief escape. However, he soon discovers that Joanna has no access to her husband’s wealth.

As the three characters become entangled in the suffocating intimacy of the villa, a psychological game of manipulation, desire, and violence unfolds. Isola is a haunting drama exploring the fragile boundary between nurture and control, and how women across different roles can both liberate and imprison each other.