The feature film „Etwas ganz Besonderes“ will celebrate its world premiere in the prestigious Competition section of the Berlinale 2026 (February 12 to 22). Directed and written by Eva Trobisch, the film marks her third major work following the critically acclaimed Alles ist gut and Ivo. The production features an outstanding ensemble cast led by newcomer Frida Hornemann alongside Max Riemelt and Eva Löbau.

The story follows Lea (Frida Hornemann), a young woman who applies for a reality TV casting show. When a producer asks the fundamental question, „Who are you and what makes you special?“, Lea finds herself at a loss for words. Her search for a suitable identity unfolds against the backdrop of her struggling family in provincial East Germany. While the local museum undergoes a lavish, EU-funded renovation, Lea’s family hotel faces economic ruin.

The family dynamics are equally fragile: Lea’s parents, Matze (Max Riemelt) and Rieke (Gina Henkel), have recently separated as Rieke is pregnant by another man. Her grandparents (Peter René Lüdicke and Rahel Ohm) are locked in a perpetual state of conflict within their remote forest hotel, while her aunt Kati (Eva Löbau), the museum director, alienates both the community and her family with her high-minded cultural demands. Even Lea’s best friend, Bonny, is distracted by a new romance with Lea’s activist cousin, Edgar.

Through this complex web of relationships, Trobisch crafts a „painfully loving“ family portrait. The film explores the friction between personal identity and the social realities of East German life. Frida Hornemann delivers a powerful performance defined by a „bottled-up restraint,“ supported by Max Riemelt as a father desperately trying to hold the fragments of his life together.

„Etwas ganz Besonderes“ is a production by Trimafilm in co-production with Komplizen Film, if… Productions, and ZDF/ARTE, in collaboration with The Post Republic. The project was funded by the BKM, DFFF, FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, and Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg. World sales are handled by The Match Factory.