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Showing in over 70 cities: ‘The Mölln Letters’ hits the cinemas
The letters will be exhibited at the Selma Museum in future.
Martina Priessner's documentary film "Die Möllner Briefe" (The Mölln Letters) celebrated its world premiere in February 2025 at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival. It won the Audience Award in the Panorama Dokumente section and also received the Berlinale's Amnesty Film Award. It was also filmed in the archives of our sponsor DOMiD, where the Mölln letters are now permanently stored at the request of the families.
In November 1992, three people were killed by German neo-Nazis in racist arson attacks in Mölln: ten-year-old Yeliz Arslan, 14-year-old Ayşe Yılmaz and her grandmother Bahide Arslan, who tried to save the children. Seven-year-old İbrahim Arslan survived only because his grandmother wrapped him in a wet cloth.
In the weeks following the attack, hundreds of letters expressing sympathy and solidarity arrived in the town of Mölln. But all these messages remained unnoticed for decades – until they were rediscovered by chance in the town archives.
The film accompanies İbrahim Arslan and his family on their journey to discover these letters and meet the people who expressed their solidarity at the time.
The film ‘Die Möllner Briefe’ (The Mölln Letters) shows how strong solidarity can be, opens up a new perspective on the commemoration of racist violence and focuses on the stories of those affected.
Theatrical release: 25 September 2025
The film will be shown in cinemas in over 70 cities. In addition, there will be premiere events in over a dozen cinemas attended by the director and/or family members. All participating cinemas can be found at the film distributor Real Fiction.
Germany 2025
Documentary, 96 Min.
Written and directed by
Martina Priessner
Camera
Ayşe Alacakaptan, Julia Geiss, Ute Freund, Anne Misselwitz
Sound
Bilge Bingül, Ludwig Fiedler
Editing
Maja Tennstedt
Producers
Friedemann Hottenbacher, Gregor Streiber (inselfilm produktion)
Funded by
The Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM), Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg (MBB)
Official Trailer
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