KINO: Ping Pong Paradise

Documentary about the rise and fall of a table tennis club with four world stars

With unique behind-the-scenes access, PING PONG PARADISE follows the rise, hubris and fall of a club that was considered Europe's most promising professional table tennis club: TTC Neu-Ulm. Having bought its way into the Bundesliga with a wild card in 2019 and then into the Champions League shortly afterwards, the club faces a special challenge in spring 2022: its team, consisting of three young Russian professionals, is banned from international competition due to the war against Ukraine and is therefore excluded from the Champions League. Club boss and investor Florian Ebner responds by buying the most spectacular club team in table tennis history around record-breaking German international Dimitrij Ovtcharov!

The film follows a season that turns out to be a microcosm of professional sport - and reveals how closely sporting success, political crises and economic pressure are intertwined. The dream of a "table tennis paradise" soon gives way to the sobering and instructive reality of the club. At the same time, the film captures a turning point in the history of table tennis - the transformation from a niche sport to a global phenomenon, even outside of China. Driven by iconic athletes, including the then all-star team of TTC Neu-Ulm, Truls Möregårdh (Sweden), Lin Yun-Ju (Taiwan) and Tomokazu Harimoto (Japan), the sport experiences a huge upswing, inspiring millions of new fans worldwide and making table tennis one of the fastest growing sports.

Germany 2025, original version (German, English, Russian, Swedish, Chinese) with German subtitles, FSK: no age restriction, Os. Premiere, 111 min.; Director: Jonas Egert. With Dimitrij Ovtcharov, Truls Möregårdh, Lin Yun-Ju, Tomokazu Harimoto, Dmitrij Mazunov, Maksim Grebnev, Lev Katsman, Vladimir Sidorenko, Timo Boll, and others.

With admission discount for the "double partner": For each ticket purchased, a second person in company receives Free admission to the performance!

Seated, free choice of seats