Southern Lights on Tour

Cinema of the Global South

The Southern Lights Festival has been presenting films from the Global South at the DFF in Frankfurt since 2020. With the new Southern Lights on Tour, the DFF is expanding the festival to include venues in Wiesbaden, Dietzenbach, Hanau, and Offenbach. In November 2023, the “Best of” the past three festival years will offer an exciting first glimpse into the aesthetic and thematic diversity of Global South cinema.

The selected films, many of which have won awards at other festivals, tell stories of desires and dreams, while also addressing issues such as racism, patriarchal power structures, generational conflict, and the extreme challenges of migration and displacement.

An essential part of the festival are workshops and film and diversity discussions, which provide space for different perspectives. Various institutions, associations and initiatives in the Rhine-Main region contribute to the supporting program.

The festival was initiated in 2020 by the 360° team of the DFF as part of the program 360° – Fund for Cultures of the New Urban Society of the Kulturstiftung des Bundes (German Federal Cultural Foundation), with the aim of promoting greater openness of cultural institutions to the diverse urban society. The expansion of the festival to additional locations in the Rhine-Main region is supported by HessenFilm und Medien, the Kulturfonds Rhein-Main, the Kulturamt der Stadt Wiesbaden and the Kulturamt der Stadt Frankfurt.

Looking Back

In its first year, 2020, Southern Lights focused on the perspectives of young people. The second edition in 2021 was dedicated to “Mobility” and explored different aspects of movement and mobility, such as freedom, escape, migration, travel, and physical disability. The third edition in 2022 focused on “Relationships” and explored the diversity of human connections.

Southern Lights on Tour also brought the festival to Dietzenbach and Wiesbaden in November 2023. A “Best of” selection of four films from the past three festival years provided an exciting first glimpse into the aesthetic and thematic diversity of cinema from the Global South.