ENG Title: Waves Turn
AUT 2026 / 73min

Originally shot on super 16mm
Sreeningformat: DCP

Languages: German, English, Spanish, Portugese, Italien
Available Subitles in English & German

Starring
Nina Böck
Ludisis Caridad Mones Castelllanos
Doris Danzer
Luise Reichert
Judith Rohrmoser

Team
Director, Camera & Concept: Josephine Ahnelt
Editor: Esther Fischer
Sounddesign: Wolf-Maximilian Liebich
On Set Sound: Wolf-Maximilian Liebich & Matthias Wagner
Production Assistent: Jaime Ibanez
Dramaturgical Consultation: Jessica Lind
Soundmixing: Menura Film - Manuel Grandpierre
Color Grading: Susi Dollnig

Realised with Funding by BMWKMS, Land Niederösterreich Kultur, Land Steiermarkt Kultur, Land Kärnten Kultur

Distributed by sixpack film

Worldpremiere: IFFR 2026, Rotterdam Netherlands

Women reflect on their first year of motherhood and the many joys and challenges it brings. A gentle, curious and informative conversational documentary about postpartum life, of sublime analogue beauty.

Five women, one life-changing experience: childbirth, followed by the postpartum period. With it come massive bodily changes, and maybe even bigger ones in daily life, ranging from painting or cooking with a baby in one’s arm to new communities one becomes a part of. Individual experiences vary, of course, yet some situations and feelings seem unavoidable.

What makes Wellen Wende special is Josephine Ahnelt’s dedication to analogue filmmaking: shot on 16mm, there was no material to waste, leading to a focused way of observing occurrences, procedures and motion sequences – like rocking a baby to sleep or caressing the tiny human’s tummy or back. Details in tight close-ups dominate, trusting then synching the camera’s gaze and movement with the rhythm of daily life, which propels the film as a whole. A gentle, curious and informative conversational documentary that finds its sublime beauty as well as its intellectual depth in its dedication to the ordinary and its trust in life itself, whatever the challenges one faces on the way.

– Olaf Möller for IFFR Catalogue