No Dogs Allowed (HKLGFF 2025)

Supported by Goethe-Institute Hong Kong

European Film Festival Göttingen
Best First Feature, Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival

Germany / 2024 / 106 mins
Gay, Drama, Coming-Of-Age
Asian Premiere

15-year-old Gabo is living with a terrible secret. Though he lives his day-to-day life as a normal teenager, he has a crush on his best friend's 8-year-old brother. Struggling to keep his paedophilic urges in check, he turns to online forums for advice, where he meets experienced hebephile, Dave, who becomes his mentor. When Dave becomes the target of a police investigation for the suspected abuse of minors, Gabo must make a decision on whether he is an offender or victim. Based on real-life testimonials, No Dogs Allowed is not your average coming-of-age film, sensitively handling the taboo topic of children as objects of desire and the abuse of power.

Winner of the first feature award at Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF), German filmmaker Steve Bache's No Dogs Allowed boldly confronts its audience, asking questions about who we are at birth and how life shapes the person we ultimately become.