PHANTOMS OF JULY (SEHNSUCHT IN SANGERHAUSEN) World Cinema

North American Premiere

An ethereal, intoxicating comedy, Julian Radlmaier’s fifth feature is as light as a summer breeze, but its simple pleasures hide profound truths about the ghosts of the past and the mysteries of the present. In the sleepy East German village of Sangerhausen, Ursula (Clara Schwinning) toils away at a café, selling tourists their famous rose cake. But she can’t help but yearn for something more: a connection, a spark, a sweet summer cherry. When she meets a group of sophisticated musicians from Berlin, it seems like she might have finally found that je ne sais quoi she’s been searching for. Neda (Maral Keshavarz) is an Iranian YouTuber trying to gain fame with off the beaten path travel tips. She meets Korean tour guide Song-nam (Kyung-Taek Lie), who promises to show her around, but she can’t help but sense the specters of those she left behind in Iran. As their paths converge — place, memory and history collide, linking these lost souls in a surreal ghost hunt. With warm, sumptuous visuals shot on Super 16mm by cinematographer Faraz Fesharaki (WHAT DO WE SEE WHEN WE LOOK AT THE SKY?, AFI FEST 2021), Radlmaier offers a resolute but gentle rejection of Germany’s right-leaning political climate, finding resonant affinities between outsiders, immigrants and laborers. –Josh Gardner