Free At Heart

Germany 2025 | 116 minutes
Theatrical release nationwide: October 29, 2026

CAST

Linus Moog, Aurel Klug, Annika Kuhl, Oli Bigalke u. v. a.

SCREENPLAY AND DIRECTION

Max Hegewald

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Marius von Felbert, BVK

PRODUCTION DESIGN

Christina Todorova

COSTUME DESIGN

Thora Geißler

MAKE-UP

Simone Simeone

EDITING

Brigitte Maria Schmidle, BFS

MUSIC

Sebastian Schmidt, Vanessa Donelly

SOUND DESIGN

Roman Pogorzelski

MIXING

Frank Bürmann

PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT

Robert Knörk

PRODUCER

Jan Philip Lange

COMMISSIONING EDITOR

Christian Bauer, SR

FUNDING

PRODUCTION

JUNIFILM in Kooperation mit Bremedia Produktion und Zusammenarbeit mit dem Saarländischen Rundfunk

DISTRIBUTION

Salzgeber Medien
wwww.salzgeber.de

WORLD SALES

Outplay Films
www.outplayfilms.com

DISTRIBUTOR USA

Altered Innocence
www.alteredinnocence.net

FESTIVALS

Bremen Film Festival 2026

Hofer Filmtage 2025

Oslo Fusion International Film Festival 2025 (Audience Award)

Emden-Norderney Film Festival 2018 (Screenplay Award Winner)

SYNOPSIS
Trailer here

The sheltered small-town life of Sebastian (16) changes abruptly when his family takes in 15-year-old Kolja, supposedly the son of a recently deceased friend of his father. Alongside his little sister, another teenager now lives with them. * * Although the two boys are strangers at first, they begin to open up to each other more and more, discovering in the process that they are biological brothers. The relationship of trust with their parents shatters, and as Sebastian and Kolja grow closer than they ever would have expected, Sebastian’s life is suddenly turned upside down, having found in his new brother not just a soulmate, but a true, first love. Overwhelmed by their feelings, the two hide their relationship, but when the secret, incestuous affair is exposed, the family breaks away from the social fabric of the small town and comes into conflict with societal norms. Everything that follows is a rollercoaster of emotions.