Elephants in the Fog Screens at Filmfest Hamburg and Across German Cinemas
The Cannes-winning Nepali feature played Filmfest Hamburg's Asiascope section on September 25–26 and continues into German arthouse cinemas, including a Passage
By Nepalese Events Australia Editorial
Published: 2026-09-30T07:30:00.000000Z
Category: Movies & Entertainment
Elephants in the Fog began its European festival run in Germany. Abinash Bikram Shah's Cannes-winning Nepali feature screened at Filmfest Hamburg 2026 in the festival's Asiascope section, with sessions on September 25 at CinemaxX Dammtor and September 26 at Abaton Oberes Kino — and the film's German life is continuing into the regular arthouse circuit.
The German trail so far
The Hamburg festival listing confirms the film's international pedigree: a Nepal-France-Germany-Brazil-Norway co-production, presented in Nepali with German subtitles — Germany is literally a producing country, which partly explains its unusually strong German presence. Asiascope, the section it played, is Filmfest Hamburg's dedicated programme for Asian cinema — the same strand that has introduced Korean, Japanese and South Asian festival titles to German audiences for years, which places the Nepali feature in respectable company rather than an outlier slot.
From the festival, the film has moved into programmed cinema runs: it's listed in the German arthouse circuit via DFF.FILM's Southern Lights series (Nepali with English subtitles), and Hamburg audiences get a further October 17, 9:45 PM session at Passage Kino, Mönckebergstraße 17, listed on the city's official Hamburg Tourism events calendar.Why the German run matters
European co-production status changes a film's trajectory: it qualifies the title for European funding and distribution schemes that a purely domestic Nepali feature can't access, and it's why Elephants in the Fog is accumulating programmed-cinema sessions rather than one-off community screenings. For the Nepali community in Germany — spread across Hamburg, Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin rather than concentrated in one city — arthouse circuit programming is actually the more accessible format.
Where to catch it outside the festival
The Southern Lights series at DFF — the German Film Institute's programming arm — is designed for international cinema that wouldn't otherwise get screen time, and its inclusion of the film with English subtitles makes it the most accessible option for non-German-speaking viewers in the diaspora. The Passage Kino date is Hamburg's own encore: a 9:45 PM session in the city's historic cinema row on the Mönckebergstraße. For audiences elsewhere in Germany, the pattern to watch is film-institute and arthouse programming — sessions appear in city cinema calendars rather than multiplex listings, so checking venues like Berlin's Kino International, Frankfurt's Mal Seh'n or Munich's City Kinos periodically is the reliable approach.
Passage Kino on the Mönckebergstraße is Hamburg's classic arthouse house, minutes from the Hauptbahnhof. Tickets are available through the cinema and the DFF programme for the wider series; the Filmfest Hamburg listing documents the film's festival credentials.
The Hamburg venues
The festival's two screening venues were telling choices: CinemaxX Dammtor is Hamburg's largest multiplex-style festival venue, while Abaton Oberes Kino is the city's beloved repertory cinema — the pairing of blockbuster-scale and arthouse-intimate rooms sums up how the film straddles both worlds. The October 17 Passage Kino session continues that arthouse thread; Mönckebergstraße is Hamburg's main shopping street, minutes from the Hauptbahnhof, so the late-evening slot is easy to reach even for visitors.
One film, three European countries
The German screenings sit inside a wider European run — the same film screens at BFI London on October 17–18 and Cambridge on October 27–29, and our feature on Nepali cinema's European year traces the full journey. More Germany coverage — including the Heidelberg Dashain-Tihar night — is on our Germany desk.
Read more Nepali community news and stories. Browse upcoming Nepali events across Australia.
Explore Nepali Events
Nepali concerts | Teej events | Dashain events | Tihar events | Holi events | Festival calendar
Nepali events in Sydney | Melbourne | Brisbane | Perth | Adelaide | Canberra