NEXT.GEN: unmute - Mit Miku Sophie Kühmel, Leonie Plaar, Bijan Moini und Friederike Oertel // Ein Tag für alle, die zuhören, widersprechen und neu denken wollen. Let’s unmute.

In the organizer's words:

How political is family? How queer was love in the 1920s? And what happens when the patriarchy suddenly takes a break? "NEXT.GEN: unmute" brings the pressing questions of a young generation to the stage. On 01.10.25, the Harbour Front Festival invites you to a day full of young, intelligent voices that are not silent, but loud - about what moves our society.

Debate what you've just heard at the book table, listen to the sounds of great live musical acts between book presentations, or recharge your batteries at the food stand - the NEXT.GEN program at the culturally influenced Oberhafen quarter, right by the water, will offer the opportunity for exciting, shared exchange and the desire to linger.

The Harbour Front is looking forward to four strong authors presenting their latest books: The personal is political - and the political is personal. Literature has long been both.

Miku Sophie Kühmel presents her new novel "Hannah", a tender, poetic love story about the artist Hannah Höch and a queer relationship in times of rising National Socialism. A literary portrait full of intimacy, art and resistance.

In "Meine Familie, die AfD und ich",Leonie Plaar tells her own story as a queer activist and historian whose family has become politically radicalized towards right-wing populism. In conversation with Bijan Moini, an expert on civil liberties and author of the new publication "2033", she discusses the big questions of our time: What drives people into right-wing thought patterns - and how can we reach them again?

In "Vacation from Patriarchy",Friederike Oertel takes us to Juchitán, a Mexican city that is considered one of the last matriarchies in the world. In a luminous mixture of reportage and self-questioning, she explores how alternative forms of society can challenge - and inspire - our womanhood.

Whether family conflict, queer history, right-wing narratives or feminist utopias - "NEXT.GEN: unmute" shows: The next generation writes loudly, uncomfortably, personally - and won't be muzzled.

A day for everyone who wants to listen, disagree and rethink. Let's unmute.