We bring four internationally acclaimed, award-winning directors together to answer the question: In our uncertain times, just how far can daring European cinema take us?

Watch an exclusive discussion with Jafar Panahi ("It Was Just an Accident"), Mascha Schilinski ("Sound of Falling"), Oliver Laxe ("Sirāt"), and Joachim Trier ("Sentimental Value"). All four films have won rave reviews as well as awards. Three are Oscar contenders for their countries. Trier's film alone is nominated for a total of nine Oscars and recently won six European Film Awards. European cinema is on the upswing.

With Hollywood repeating familiar formulas and AI increasingly shaping the creative landscape, Europe's leading filmmakers are forging new paths — taking risks, speaking politically, and freeing up the form. Our roundtable discussion places that cinema front and center, shining a spotlight on directors who are showing courage artistically, politically and personally.

From Panahi's subtle reflections on a former prisoner and his alleged torturer in Iran, to Laxe's desert odyssey set to rave music; from Schilinski's multigenerational exploration of German history to Trier's psychological study of art and family bonds — these are films that confront today's biggest questions in cinema: Is filmmaking still a political act? Who actually watches these films? How can European cinema evolve in a landscape of streaming platforms, rising populism, and AI? This conversation explores what cinema can achieve when it refuses to play it safe.

A coproduction of Deutsche Welle, The Hollywood Reporter and the European Film Academy.