11/02/2026 - The Athens-based sales agent is hoping to have another award-winning first-time feature on its hands with this German production helmed by Kai Stänicke

At the Berlinale’s European Film Market (EFM), unspooling from 12-18 February, Athens-based international sales agent Heretic will be selling Kai Stänicke’s Trial of Hein (whose original title is Der Heimatlose, meaning “The Stray” or “The Homeless”), which is world-premiering as the opening film of this year’s Perspectives competition for debut fiction features. Written and directed by Berlin-based filmmaker Stänicke, the movie was produced by Hamburg-based Tamtam Film, and co-produced by Berlin’s Lupa Film and ZDF – Das kleine Fernsehspiel.

Trial of Hein tackles belonging and changing identity as the title character returns home from the mainland to a remote island in the North Sea, only to be put on trial to determine whether he is who he says he is. The film stars Paul Boche as Hein, with other roles filled by Philip Froissant, Emilia Schüle and Stephanie Amarell. The director brought the screenplay to the Berlinale Talents Script Station in 2022, making its premiere a return home of its own. Beyond the Perspectives competition, the film will also vie for the Teddy Award.

Last year, Heretic came away from the Berlinale with a winner in Urška Djukić’s Little Trouble Girls [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Urška Djukić
film profile], also in the Perspectives section and the opening film of the 2025 strand. Little Trouble Girls took home the FIPRESCI Prize, was sold to numerous territories worldwide and became Slovenia’s 2026 Oscars entry.

At the EFM, Heretic will also be pre-selling the romantic comedy Twice Over by Alena Lodkina (behind the 2022 Locarno Filmmakers of the Present entry Petrol), an Australian production starring Mia Wasikowska (Bergman Island [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mia Hansen-Løve
film profile]) and Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers in the Netflix series Stranger Things). As of last year, the film was scheduled to shoot in Perth at the end of 2025 and sees the involvement of Finnish cinematographer J-P Passi (Compartment No. 6 [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Juho Kuosmanen
film profile]).

Finally, as a production house, Heretic is involved with, but not selling, the Golden Bear contender Dust by Anke Blondé.