Felix Randau’s I Is Another to celebrate its world premiere on Locarno’s Piazza Grande
Felix Randau’s historical drama I Is Another (Ich ist ein Anderer) is selected for this year’s Locarno Film Festival. The film is to receive its world premiere as part of the festival’s prestigious Piazza Grande programme. Sharing the major roles in this tense psychological cat-and-mouse game are Claes Bang, Valerie Pachner and Susanne Wuest.
Claes Bang plays Felix Kersten (1898-1960) who emerges as a gripping enigma: a man hailed by some as the trusted confidant whose influence over Heinrich Himmler saved thousands of lives, yet viewed by others as a gifted self‑mythologiser who expertly reframed his own guilt as heroism.
SYNOPSIS
Autumn 1952: Journalist Hedda and her husband Winfried confront Felix Kersten, former massage therapist to SS leader Heinrich Himmler, on a train to Oslo. Kersten claims he helped thousands of concentration camp prisoners escape, but Hedda doubts him, seeing instead a mythmaker using fabricated heroics to pursue the Nobel Peace Prize. What begins as an interview becomes a tense psychological cat‑and‑mouse game: Kersten, rhetorically brilliant and armed with alleged evidence, faces an opponent who relentlessly exposes contradictions. As their exchange intensifies, the Nobel Peace Prize announcement draws closer.
FELIX RANDAU ABOUT HIS FILM
“While working on I Is Another, I learned that it is not only in the present day that control over channels of information is the key to power and to defining ‘truth’. Only the technological possibilities have expanded dramatically. Felix Kersten, then, is less a historical figure than a contemporary one. And he is not the only ‘Another’. We all are.”
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Felix Randau returns with I Is Another to the Piazza Grande in Locarno where his 2017 feature Iceman also premiered. With more than 20 years of experience as a writer and director, Randau’s debut feature Northern Star (2003) was nominated for the renowned Max Ophüls Preis, while his 2008 sophomore feature, The Calling Game, premiered at the San Sebastian Film Festival. Lead actress Valerie Koch won the Best Lead Performance by an Actress at the Munich Film Festival.
Alongside directing, Randau has also written several acclaimed feature films and television projects, including Eden (2016), directed by Dominik Moll and co-created by Edward Berger.
ABOUT THE MAIN CAST
- Claes Bang (Felix Kersten) is a critically acclaimed actor who first gained international recognition as the lead in The Square, which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes (2017). He made history as the first Danish male actor to win the Best Actor Award at the European Film Awards which led to roles in a wide range of international productions, including Dracula, The Affair, The Northman, Bad Sisters, The Outlaws, Bonjour Tristesse, the epic William Tell and The Great Arch.
- Valerie Pachner (Hedda Wohmann) was born in Wels, Austria. As an actress, she is best known for her roles in such films as A Hidden Life (2019), Der Boden unter den Füßen (2019) and The King’s Men (2021) in which she plays Mata Hari,The Stories (2025), and Vier minus drie (2026).
- Susanne Wuest (Irmgard Kersten) gained international recognition for her leading role in Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala’s Goodnight Mommy (2014). Wuest has since worked with a range of notable European directors, including Barbara Albert (Mademoiselle Paradis, 2017), László Nemes (Sunset, 2018) and in Mascha Schilinski’s Cannes debut Sound of Falling (2025).
OTHER KEY CREW:
Producer: Claritta Kratochwil, Marcel Lenz; Cinematography: Sebastian Thaler; Editor: Joana Scrinzi; Music: Bernhard Fleischmann; Set design: Stephan von Tresckow; Costumes: Mara Helml; Make-up & Hair: Regina Breitfellner, Christine Akbaba; Sound: Johannes Baumann; Sound Design: Sebastian Schmidt; Sound mix: Manuel Grandpierre.
LOCARNO PRESS & INDUSTRY SCREENING*
- Thursday 6 August, 21:30, Casino
*for Locarno Film Festival accreditation holders only
LOCARNO PIAZZA GRANDE SCREENING**
- Friday 7 August, 21:30, Piazza Grande
** Always check the official festival channels for any last‑minute programme changes
GENERAL INFO
I Is Another is produced by Marcel Lenz and Claritta Kratochwil of ostlicht filmproduktion (DE), in co-production with Wega Film (AT), backed by MDR, Arte and BR, and supported by öFI+, MDM, DFFF, FFA, Filmfonds Wien and Thüringer Staatskanzlei.
International sales: BETA Cinema. Distributor for Germany: Port au Prince Pictures
CLICK HERE FOR ALL AVAILABLE ASSETSGERMAN PRESS & MEDIA INQUIRIES:
German press and media contact Port au Prince Pictures directly - Nigel Karte nk@porte-prince.de
Christian De Schutter
