Programme 2025

We will announce the full programme on Friday 22 August. From that date, tickets will also be available for the opening event and for screenings of the more than 40 films.

What will be on? The film programme focuses on recent essay films from around the world. Both features and shorts. Pure essay films, as well as essayistic fiction and lyrical meditations. Films about power, migration, and labour. About presidents and small villages. About the history of science and the destruction of cities.

Recent works are paired with classics by Chris Marker, Chantal Akerman, Harun Farocki and Johan van der Keuken.

Among the contemporary filmmakers are both established and emerging names from Austria, Germany, Vietnam, Palestine, Senegal, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Morocco, Mali, Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy.

They include Nguyen Trinh Thi, Sergey Loznitsa, Sasha Litvintseva & Beny Wagner, Vincent Meessen, Lis Rhodes, Ho Rui An, Miko Revereza, Manthia Diawara, Mathijs van de Port, Susanna Tomassini, Alexander Horwath and many others.

Particular attention is given to films about listening, or in which sound takes over the role of the image. Throughout the festival, we present a selection of notable films in collaboration with the Swiss platform Filmexplorer.

To carry the reflection from the films into conversation with the audience, the programme alternates screenings with introductions, Q&As, and discussions. leff seeks depth—and therefore opens with a lecture.

14 September, 14:00–17:30
Opening. Public lecture by Laura Rascaroli, author of How the Essay Film Thinks, followed by a screening of several short essay films and drinks.
Auditorium, Museum De Lakenhal, Leiden

15 and 16 September, daily from 10:00–24:00
More than 40 essay films in two theatres, shown in blocks of 2 to 2.5 hours. With introductions, Q&As, and discussions with filmmakers and commentators.
Cinema Kijkhuis, Leiden