The Lightest Thing in the World (Das Leichteste der Welt)

Christian Dittloff tells of first love, early parental responsibilities, friendship, social class, and shame, as well as empathy and care. And of finding one’s own path.

When a solar eclipse darkens the sky over the Mediterranean in 2026, Ivo is transported back to the two defining summers of his youth: with his first great love, Karla; his best friends, Demian and Selma; and a baby sleeping in his arms during the last solar eclipse in 1999. He meets Karla at a summer camp on the Baltic Sea: she is smart, unpredictable, always one step ahead of him—and pregnant. What begins between them is both love and an overwhelming burden. At fifteen, Ivo finds himself thrust into a life for which he is suddenly expected to be an adult. As the year 2000 approaches, he tries to please everyone—and risks breaking under the strain.

Christian Dittloff, born in Hamburg in 1983, studied German and English language and literature in Hamburg as well as creative writing in Hildesheim; he has worked in a psychiatric hospital, as a cultural journalist, and as an expert in cultural marketing. He lives and writes in Berlin.

Emily Grunert, born in Mainz in 1992, studied creative writing and cultural journalism in Hildesheim and applied literary studies in Berlin. After stints in Berlin and Rostock, she now works as a literary educator, host, and author in Düsseldorf. In 2026, Emily Grunert will serve on the jury for the German Book Prize.

On the evening of the premiere, there will be a book table and an opportunity to have the book signed by the author.