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GAMERAUSCH: UNPLAYING VIOLENCE 30.10.2026 // 19:0

GAMERAUSCH: UNPLAYING VIOLENCE

30.10.2026 // 19:00 // Filmrauschpalast, Berlin

INDULTO (Mélanie Courtinat, FR 2025, ca. 15 min)
HOW TO DISAPPEAR (Total Refusal, AT 2020, 22 min)
SCENT (Alan Kwan, USA 2025, ca. 20 min)

🎟️Ticketlink in Bio

Video games are violent, they make our children sad, lonely, and aggressive. Best not to play them at all. Concerns like these are all too familiar from decades of debate surrounding video games and violence. Since then, video games have evolved as a medium and an art form. Developers and artists have created individual works that critically engage with social and cultural issues – and question the relationship between gaming and violence.

We will screen three particularly fascinating works that reflect on violence in video games by exploring ways of refusing violence, withdrawing from violent actions, and dealing with the emotional burdens of a violent world: @melanie.courtinat beautiful art game INDULTO subverts and questions the codes of traditional video game violence by following the inescapable path of a bullfighter approaching the arena. The short film HOW TO DISAPPEAR, by Austrian media art collective @totalrefusal , deals with the problems of disobedience and desertion in the online shooter BATTLEFIELD V. And @alankwan828 cinematic game SCENT follows a dog wandering a war-torn landscape, collecting souls of the dead, and yet discovering hope amid the darkness. All three works explore forms of what might be called “un-violent” play by at once acknowledging the reality of violence and refusing to participate in it.

We will play and watch all three works in their entirety with an introduction by media scholar Dr. Lars Dolkemeyer. The screening will be concluded by a Q&A with the artists.

(1) Poster by @thisisstar & @timriot
(2) Still from INDULTO by @melanie.courtinat
(3) Still from HOW TO DISAPPEAR by @totalrefusal
(4) Still from SCENT by @alankwan828

GAMERAUSCH: UNPLAYING VIOLENCE 29.09.2026 // 16:0

GAMERAUSCH: UNPLAYING VIOLENCE

29.09.2026 // 16:00 // Abaton Kino, Hamburg

INDULTO (Mélanie Courtinat, FR 2025, ca. 15 min)
HOW TO DISAPPEAR (Total Refusal, AT 2020, 22 min)
SCENT (Alan Kwan, USA 2025, ca. 20 min)

Video games are violent, they make our children sad, lonely, and aggressive. Best not to play them at all. Concerns like these are all too familiar from decades of debate surrounding video games and violence. Since then, video games have evolved as a medium and an art form. Developers and artists have created individual works that critically engage with social and cultural issues – and question the relationship between gaming and violence.

We will screen three particularly fascinating works that reflect on violence in video games by exploring ways of refusing violence, withdrawing from violent actions, and dealing with the emotional burdens of a violent world: @melanie.courtinat beautiful art game INDULTO subverts and questions the codes of traditional video game violence by following the inescapable path of a bullfighter approaching the arena. The short film HOW TO DISAPPEAR, by Austrian media art collective @totalrefusal , deals with the problems of disobedience and desertion in the online shooter BATTLEFIELD V. And @alankwan828 cinematic game SCENT follows a dog wandering a war-torn landscape, collecting souls of the dead, and yet discovering hope amid the darkness. All three works explore forms of what might be called “un-violent” play by at once acknowledging the reality of violence and refusing to participate in it.

We will play and watch all three works in their entirety with an introduction by media scholar Dr. Lars Dolkemeyer.

This event is presented with the support of @futuracinema , a project incubator dedicated to film distribution and exhibition, as part of its Incubation Programme and in cooperation with @filmfesthamburg_industry

(1) Poster by @thisisstar & @timriot ❤️
(2) Still from INDULTO by @melanie.courtinat
(3) Still from HOW TO DISAPPEAR by @totalrefusal
(4) Still from SCENT by @alankwan828

GAMERAUSCH OPEN AIR 17.07.2026: 20:00-23:30 (tick

GAMERAUSCH OPEN AIR

17.07.2026: 20:00-23:30 (ticket link in bio)

INTERSECTION (Germany 2025, R: Karoline Rößler, German with English subtitles)

Wie jedes Jahr schauen wir uns zur Sommeredition des GAMERAUSCH besondere Hybridformen des interaktiven Geschichtenerzählens an. Die Open Air-Leinwand dient uns dabei als Experimentierfeld, wie auch abseits klassischer Videospiele Interaktion und Film zusammenkommen können.

INTERSECTION ist ein Dokumentarfilm, begleitet von einem interaktiven Mobile Game, das Diskriminierungsstrukturen erlebbar macht. Im Spiel laufen wir durch eine Stadt mit einer zufällig ausgewählten Figur. Je nach Form, Farbe oder Muster begegnet uns die Welt unterschiedlich: wir haben Privilegien oder werden benachteiligt. Wir merken schnell, dass dieses Spiel nicht fair ist.

Im Film begegnen wir schließlich sechs Menschen, die sich für eine gerechtere Welt einsetzen und selbst Diskriminierung erfahren. Das Gespräch zwischen ihnen spannt einen Bogen von der Lebens- und Arbeitsrealität über politische Erschöpfung bis zur Frage: Wie bleibt Solidarität möglich, wenn institutionelle Rückendeckung fehlt? Was tun, wenn Wut, Trauer und Verantwortung ungleich verteilt sind? Sie berichten, wie sich ihre Diskriminierungsformen überschneiden und wie das Spiel auf die Realität übertragbar ist.

Im Anschluss Q&A mit dem Filmteam.

GAMERAUSCH x DOXUMENTALE: Berlin Stories 06.06.20

GAMERAUSCH x DOXUMENTALE: Berlin Stories

06.06.2026: 19:00-22:00 (ticket link in bio)

THE BERLIN APARTMENT (Germany 2025, Blue Backpack, German with English subtitles)

DIE AUSSICHT (BRD 1966, R: Kurt Krigar, OV)

An old apartment in Berlin across the decades: in the episodic game THE BERLIN APARTMENT by @_blue_backpack, we discover memories of former residents while renovating the apartment. Together with them, we immerse ourselves in the fateful experiences of various decades of Berlin's urban history. Additionally, we turn to another cinematic perspective on Berlin as a site of German history: in the documentary DIE AUSSICHT, a Berlin apartment likewise takes centre stage. A tenant on Bernauer Straße observes the Berlin Wall from her window and shares impressions from her life.

Together with film scholar Angela Jouini from Freie Universität Berlin, we will examine the diverse representations of Berlin's history in film and games, and enter into conversation with the developers of the game.

In cooperation with @doxumentale.ber

GAMERAUSCH x A MAZE: RELOOTED 14.05.2026: 19:00-2

GAMERAUSCH x A MAZE: RELOOTED

14.05.2026: 19:00-22:00 (ticket link in bio)

RELOOTED (ZA 2026, Nyamakop, English with subtitles)

In recent years, there have been increasing efforts to return artifacts stolen during colonial times. Yet Western museums and private collections continue to exploit loopholes to retain these treasures. Rather than wait for justice, in the game RELOOTED, a pan-African group of friends decides to take matters into their own hands: they simply steal the artifacts back.

RELOOTED is a platformer by South African studio @nyamakop We play as Nomali and her crew as they execute elaborate heists in museums and private collections. What makes the game special: the studio has researched with great documentary care the real histories, cultural significance, and circumstances of theft for all objects featured in the game. Rarely has the complex issue of restitution been so successfully integrated into a video game. At the same time, the studio has invested tremendous care into the soundtrack, voice acting, and Afrofuturist aesthetic. RELOOTED is full of empowerment and ultimately poses the question: What if someone simply took back what was stolen?

As part of the @a_mazefest and in cooperation with @playfulasso, we'll play selected passages of the game together on the big screen. Our guests @daverace_64 and Ben Myres (Game Designer & Founder of @nyamakop, South Africa) will contextualize the themes explored in the game and provide insights into the production history.

GAMERAUSCH: LEARNING TO WALK 17.04.2026: 19:00-22

GAMERAUSCH: LEARNING TO WALK

17.04.2026: 19:00-22:00 (ticket link in bio)

BABY STEPS
USA 2025, ca. 120 min, UmU
Gabe Cuzzillo/Maxi Boch/Bennett Foddy

Manche Spiele und Filme interessieren sich fast obsessiv für das Wechselspiel von Körpern und ihrer Umwelt: Alltägliche Tätigkeiten wie das Gehen werden hier zum Faszinosum. Wir schauen uns zwei auf Bewegungen fokussierte Werke an, die das mühsame Durchqueren von Landschaften zur Introspektion werden lassen. Sie fordern ihr Publikum mit Extremformen von Dauer und Frustration heraus, eröffnen zugleich aber Freiheiten und ein ästhetisches Genießen für diejenigen, die geduldig genug sind.

Spiele wie BABY STEPS nehmen uns Fähigkeiten, die wir sowohl in Spielen als auch sonst für selbstverständlich halten. Sie verlangsamen uns zunächst radikal, um uns dann zu ermöglichen, diese Fähigkeiten neu zu erlernen: in nur wenigen Stunden von den ersten wackeligen Schritten zum euphorischen Gefühl, den Boden unter den Füßen zurückgewonnen zu haben. Indem wir BABY STEPS durch die Linse von Slow-Cinema betrachten – das Wahrnehmung von Zeit, Raum und Fortbewegung drastisch verändert – wollen wir verstehen, wie sogenannte Walking Simulatoren Aufmerksamkeitsspannen herausfordern, ihr Publikum sensibilisieren und Geschichten über verletzliche Figuren erzählen, die ihren Platz in der Welt suchen – einen Schritt nach dem anderen.

Wie immer werden wir das Spiel gemeinsam spielen und so weit gehen wie unsere digitalen Füße uns tragen.

Mit Film- und Medienwissenschaftler Thomas Scherer (Europa-Universität Viadrina).

Die Veranstaltung findet auf Englisch statt.

GAMERAUSCH: HORSES 27.03.2026, 19:00 – 22:00 (reg

GAMERAUSCH: HORSES

27.03.2026, 19:00 – 22:00 (regulärer admission)

HORSES (ITA 2025, Santa Ragione, approx. 180 Min)

HORSES is one of the most controversial releases of the past year. Not only because of its content, but also because of how the major sales platforms dealt with it: shortly before its release, the game from Milan-based indie studio Santa Ragione was banned from sale without any specific reason being given. This is even though a number of more explicit games are available on these platforms.

In HORSES, we work for two weeks on a remote farm somewhere in Italy. The protagonist's stay, which is strange from the outset, increasingly develops into a bizarre parable about religion, dehumanization, and the dynamics of power and obedience.
At the same time, the game sees itself in the tradition of art film and aims to translate its methods and techniques to video games. Both silent film and grotesque cinema resonate in HORSES. The game deliberately uses disturbing images to formulate political criticism.

Together with media scholars Elizabeth Neumann and Dr. Thomas Spies, we discuss the style and content of the game, whether the developers succeed in their artistic endeavor, and to what extent HORSES opens up new perspectives on political art.

As always, we'll play the game together in its full length.

The language of the expert talk is German. The game is played in English.

GAMERAUSCH: FIREWATCH 14.02.2026: 18:00 (regular

GAMERAUSCH: FIREWATCH

14.02.2026: 18:00 (regular admission)

Firewatch (USA 2016, Campo Santo, 480 Min, original language with German subtitles)

Exactly ten years after its release, FIREWATCH is already considered a classic in video game history. In the hot summer of 1989, the game's protagonist, Henry, travels to a US national park. He will spend the summer living in seclusion in a lookout tower, keeping an eye out for forest fires as a “firewatcher.” His only contact with the outside world is via radio communication with his colleague Delilah.

Together with Henry, we experience the beauty of the national park in breathtaking images, witness increasingly mysterious events, and are ultimately confronted with the big questions: How do we deal with grief and loss? What does it mean to take responsibility in life? And how is it possible to maintain solidarity with other people in times of crisis?

Our game scholar Lars Dolkemeyer provides an introduction to these themes in the game and the perspectives that FIREWATCH opens up. As always, the game will be played together and in its full length.

GAMERAUSCH: DESPELOTE 16.01.2026, 19:30 – 22:00

GAMERAUSCH: DESPELOTE

16.01.2026, 19:30 – 22:00

DESPELOTE (ECU/USA 2025, Julián Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena, 120 Min, original language with English subtitles)

DESPELOTE is one of last year's award-winning indie hits. A lively, humorous, yet thoughtful game about growing up in Quito and the special role that soccer played there in 2001. The focus is on eight-year-old Julián, whose perspective takes us through the streets, parks, and schoolyards of the city.

With a ball at our feet, we explore our surroundings, dribbling, passing, shooting, and seeing how people react when the ball suddenly lands in front of them. DESPELOTE captures the magic of small freedoms: playing alone or with friends on the pitch, eavesdropping on adults and opposing them, exploring the city and turning it into our own playground. At the same time, you can sense the social context, as Ecuador is in the midst of an economic crisis and qualifying for the World Cup becomes a collective source of hope that resonates all around.

DESPELOTE is not just a story about soccer, but a heartfelt invitation to immerse yourself in a time that meant a lot to its developer, Julián Cordero. With this semi-biographical approach, DESPELOTE is an outstanding example of a new generation of video games that combine documentary and interactive storytelling in an exciting new way.

Following the playthrough, there will be a Q&A with Ian Berman, the game's sound designer.

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