Long Story Short (HSBC German Film Festival 2025) - Film Review

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Wed 30 Apr 2025 - Mon 19 May 2025

Feste und Freunde 2013 Ein Hoch auf uns!

Long Story Short aka Feste und Freunde is screening at this year's German Film Festival , where you'll find many other gems in the program . Directed by David Dietl and featuring a stellar ensemble including Laura Tonke (Ellen), Ronald Zehrfeld (Sebastian), Nicholas Ofczarek (Rolf), Jasmin Shakeri (Natalie), Katia Fellin (Maya), Henning Fl fcsloh (Max), Pegah Ferydoni (Dina), Annette Frier (Mareike), Trystan P fctter (Adam), Antje Traue (Eva), and Marlene Tanczik (Becky), along with Ludger B f6kelmann as DJ Ric and Merlin Sandmeyer as the Police Long Story Short skilfully weaves together humour and serious moments in a magnificent ode to life, love and friendship - an apt short description of this long story.

Ten friends, three years, and seven parties, Ellen is heading for a New Year's Eve 2019 party with her best friends, however, she's harbouring a secret. She's having an affair with the married Sebastian, whom she devotedly loves for years in spite of him still being married to his wife Eva. There's always a little tension between Mareike and Adam as she's a little more reserved, and he just wants to have fun and be happy, which she finds a little annoying, and he seems to never be able to please her. Tension also exists between Maya and Natalie, as one wants children and the other can't quite commit. Rolf has been single a long time, till he meets Dina at one of the parties, and is drawn to her. In a moment of escape, Ellen meets Max on the street, looking equally miserable. Parting as strangers, never for a moment did she think he'd turn up at one of the parties - a friend of Natalie's. Still deeply in love with Sebastian, Ellen fends off Max's attention, and he ends up in a relationship with Becky. Years pass and parties are celebrated between this close-knit group of friends. There's love, laughter, arguments, couple relationships under pressure but through it all, this film reminds us that life must be lived intensely, every single moment to never be taken for granted - especially best friends.


This close-knit group who bare all to each other go through the normal frictions of everyday life. and all that makes us human. Friendships falter, friendships fail, friendships that prevail. It's all part of navigating our way through this thing we call life, with all its trials and tribulations. The characters will be familiar to us, as they face issues we can all empathise and identify with. However, the bulk of the burden seems to land with Ellen, who appears as the main focus of the film. Laura Tonke as Ellen carries this burden stupendously as she flawlessly performs moments of embarrassment, humiliation, regret, remorse, and also hope and reconciliation. From funny to forlorn, she covers the gamut of emotions while remaining vulnerable, brilliantly! As the central character, the rest of the relationships revolve around Ellen who seems to possess so much hope and inexhaustible strength.

Just when you think this is a pleasant little film that just rolls along, engaging us in its intricacies of relationships and friendships, hits and misses, this moving ensemble may surprise you by running away with your emotions, as they make you laugh, and surprisingly - cry. Along with a developing deep romance that's subtle, yet will grab you by the heart, and have you wish it to come true. This is a film that tells its story beautifully and effortlessly, never losing sight of any of the characters, and maintaining the impact of all of their triumphs and defeats. From a New Year's Eve 2019 party to a birthday party in 2023, and a party in the park during the strictest Covid regulations, these characters will endear themselves to you. Each one plays their part well, and though all play supporting rolls, they are still the main character in their own lives, their own story. You're going to want to keep these friends around, long after the film is over.





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