Objet a

Press Screening: TUE, 11.8.2026 | 9:00 | Teatro Kursaal
World Premiere: TUE, 11.8.2026 | 14:00 | Palexpo (FEVI)
Screenings: www.locarnofestival.ch

98 Min. / Germany, Luxembourg, Greece 2026 / feature 

Trailer:

Director Ann Oren and main actors Louis Hofmann, Aenne Schwarz, and Simone Bucio are available for interviews.

Objet a by writer-director Ann Oren is world premiering in the International Competition at the Locarno Film Festival 2026. The body-pleasure-mystery is Ann Oren’s return to Locarno after successfully world premiering her debut Piaffe in the Concorso Internazionale in 2022.

Playful, comic, provocative, and deeply unsettling, Objet a is another bold and singular work from Ann Oren, a filmmaker who consistently leads audiences into the unexpected. Exploring desire, intimacy, and identity using the body as a cinematic language, the film examines the fragile relationship between humans and the natural world, suggesting that the more we seek to control our bodies, the further we drift from our animal nature.

SYNOPSIS
Ingeborg and Adam are visionary hand surgeons bound by love, control, and irresistible fixations. She is compelled to steal objects; he longs to become one. When an accident brings the enigmatic Gaia into their lives, unexpected desires begin to take shape, unsettling the careful balance that has long defined their relationship.

Ann Oren is a Berlin based visual artist and filmmaker. By dissolving distinctions between plant, animal and human, she asks what it is to be human today, in an ecosystem immersed in digital culture. Playing with animality and unconventional desires, she employs a visceral language, drawing attention to the physicality of both performers and viewers. She first studied Film and later received an MFA in Fine Arts, both from The School of Visual Arts, New York. Her first narrative feature film PIAFFE premiered at Locarno Film Festival’s International Competition and was presented in dozens of festivals including San Sebastián and BFI London, winning numerous awards including the Silver Hugo Award at the Chicago International Film Festival and Best Debut from The German Film Critics’ Association.

The film features Aenne Schwarz (All Is Well), Louis Hofmann (Dark), Simone Bucio (The Ivy), Georg Friedrich (Great Freedom), Sofia Kokkali (Our Wildest Days).

Objet a is produced by Schuldenberg Films in co-production with Tarantula, asterisk* and ERT with support by Film Fund Luxembourg, German Federal Film Fund, Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Hessen Film & Medien, Creative Europe Media, German Federal Film Board, Hellenic Film and A/V Center-EKKOMEΔ.

The domestic release in Germany through Grandfilm is scheduled for the first quarter of 2027.

Writer & Director Ann Oren
Co-Writer Geoffroy Grison
Producers Kristof Gerega, Fabian Altenried, Sophie Ahrens, Donato
Rotunno, Vicky Miha
Production Company Schuldenberg Films
Co-production Tarantula Luxembourg, asterisk*
Cinematography Juan Sarmiento G.
Production Design Audrey Hernu
Costume Design Carmen di Pinto
Editing Hansjörg Weißbrich
Soundtrack Kyan Bayani
Sound Design Persefoni Miliou
Sound Mix Aaron Baustert

Production Company:
Schuldenberg Films
Kristof Gerega
kristof@schuldenbergfilms.com
www.schuldenbergfilms.com

World Sales:
Bendita Film Sales
sales@btafilms.com
www.btafilms.com

©/CREDITS:

Stills: © Schuldenberg Films