Short Film Catalog

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But I Never Asked

new film type fiction Production Country Germany production year 2025 runtime 19'46 colour Color
screening format DCP aspect ratio 1.66:1 sound format 5.1 Audiomix original-language German, English, Polish subtitles English

A young pianist at the Munich Conservatory preparing for the most important audition of her life, playing Chopin's Ballade No. 1 — the same music broadcast by Polish radio as bombs fell on Warsaw in 1939. While perfecting her technique, Sophia becomes haunted by fragments of her family's untold wartime past. Memories she never lived begin to surface, blurring the boundaries between history and identity, dream and reality. To truly play, she must face the traces of war passed down to her.

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But I Never Asked But I Never Asked But I Never Asked But I Never Asked But I Never Asked
director Nicole Humiński Production Michaela Mederer, Luisa Eichler, Natalie Seraphim, Ben Brummer Script Nicole Humiński Editing Nicole Humiński, Nikolai Huber DOP Nikolai Huber Cast Joanna Sielicka, Jaymes Butler, Barbara Horvath Szenenbild / Production Design Amelie Seeger, Leif Eric Young Sound Design Stefan Möhl film school Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München (HFF)
Festivals
2025 PÖFF Shorts, Tallin, Estonia
School
  • Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München (HFF)
  • Bernd-Eichinger-Platz 1
  • 80333 München
  • Germany
  • http://www.hff-muc.de
Production
  • Monolith Film
  • Ben Brummer
  • Schäftlarnstr. 10
  • 81371 München
  • https://www.instagram.com/monolith.film
Distribution
  • Monolith Film
  • Ben Brummer
  • Schäftlarnstr. 10
  • 81371 München
  • https://www.instagram.com/monolith.film
Sales
  • Monolith Film
  • Ben Brummer
  • Schäftlarnstr. 10
  • 81371 München
  • https://www.instagram.com/monolith.film

Nicole Humiński

Nicole Humiński is a German-Polish director studying directing at the HFF University of Television and Film Munich. Her short films have been screened and awarded at international film festivals. In 2025, she received the German Cinematography Award for Editing (Cinegrell New Talents).

Filmography
2021 Drecks Kleingeld
2022 Borders
2025 But I Never Asked
2025 ADHD in Young Women
2026 The True Type

Portrait of Nicole Humiński