In the organizer's words:

"Crossing: In search of Tekla"

As part of the exchange program "Sister Cities Stand Together - LGBTI Rights are Human Rights", the City of Cologne has invited actresses and makers of the film "Crossing: In Search of Tekla" from Istanbul.

On Thursday, 11.12.2025 at 19.00h the film will be shown in their presence at the Filmhaus Köln - in the original version with subtitles. This will be followed by a film discussion in English, moderated by Jürgen Künz and Michael Zgonjanin from Neue Medien e.V.

The film "Crossing: In Search of Tekla" by Levan Akin premiered at the Berlinale on February 15, 2024. The festival organizers described the film as "a topography of places of queer care and solidarity". It succeeds in "combining reality and imagination in a moving way".

In the film, we meet Lia, who lives in the Georgian city of Batumi. She used to work as a teacher, but has now retired. She makes a promise to search for her long-lost niece Tekla, a young trans woman. A trail leads Lia to Istanbul. There she meets Evrim, a lawyer for trans rights. Soon she believes she is closer to her niece than ever before.

"Crossing: In Search of Tekla" (107 min, OmU), Thursday, 11.12.2025, 19:00 Filmhaus Köln, Maybachstraße 111, 50670 Cologne, admission 9 euros