Trance

by Jona Schloßer
Filmakademie Ludwigsburg, Germany

Jury Motivation by Prof. Bülent Küçükerdoğan

Yasmin is a woman who carries responsibility for everyone around her. She tries to save lives as a paramedic, she holds her home together, and she struggles with financial pressure. This film does not treat these as separate problems. It ties them together. When one gets heavier, the others get heavier too. And we do not understand Yasmin's exhaustion because it is explained to us, we understand it because we feel it. The ending does not come as a surprise, it comes as the result of everything that has built up from the very beginning. An honest, simple story that does not try to offer comfort.

Synopsis

Exhausted, Yasmin (28) struggles through her shift as a paramedic. She fights her way through the day, juggling critical emergency calls and the pressure of supporting her family alone. When she's forced to secretly take her little sister along in the ambulance, she's on the verge of losing control on the way to a cardiac arrest.

Director's biography

Jona Schloßer is a filmmaker with a strong narrative voice and visual sensibility. At 16, he directed his first feature-length documentary, My Big Journey (2018), chronicling his time aboard a traditional sailing ship. Following his high school graduation in 2019, he gained on-set experience across various feature films and series productions. His directorial debut, the short film Forgive Me, Father, won the German Youth Film Award and the Newcomer Prize at the Federal Festival of Young Film in 2021, and was selected for the LA Shorts International Film Festival. In 2022, his short film Allein was again awarded the German Youth Film Award. Since 2021, Jona has been studying directing at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. His 2025 social spot KUNYE was named a Top 10 finalist at the German Advertising Film Award and won silver at the 1.4 Award. Based in Munich.

Credits

Director: Jona Schloßer
Screenplay: Amar Mehmedovic, Jona Schloßer
Cinematography: Jona Riese
Editing: Katharina Jung
Music: Hannes Ohde
Sound design: Katharina Jung
Producer: Sophia Beatrice, Hanna Martsensen

Specifications

Original title: Trance
Running time: 20'
Film type: Fiction
Country: Germany
Completion date: January 2026