On a weekend trip to the countryside, Laura, a piano student from Berlin, miraculously survives a car crash. Physically unhurt but deeply shaken, she is taken in by a local woman who witnessed the accident and now cares for Laura with motherly devotion. When her husband and adult son also give up their initial resistance to Laura's presence, the four of them slowly build up some family-like routine and spend some days of happiness together. But soon they can no longer ignore their past, and Laura has to come to terms with her own life.
Christian Petzold
He was born in Hilden (Germany) in 1960.He studied German and Drama at Freie Universität Berlin and then, from 1988 to 1994, Film at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (DFFB). After his first feature films (‘Pilots’, 1995; ‘Cuba Libre’, 1996; and ‘The Sex Thief’, 1998), he won the German Film Award for best film with ‘The State I Am In’ (2000). His films, distinguished with important awards at numerous international festivals, usually have their world premiere at the Berlin Festival, where he won Panorama’s Fipresci award for ‘Wolfsbur’ (2003), the Silver Bear for best actress for Nina Hoss in ‘Yella’ (2007), the Silver Bear for best director for ‘Barbara’ (2012), the Fipresci for ‘Undine’ (2020) and the Grand Jury Prize for ‘Afire’ (2023). Additionally, he competed at the Venice Film Festival with ‘Jerichow’ (2008) and won the Fipresci in San Sebastián with ‘Phoenix’ (2014).
DIRECTOR
Christian Petzold
SCREENPLAY
Christian Petzold
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Hans Fromm
EDITOR
Bettina Böhler
SOUND
Dominik Schleier, Marek Forreiter, Bettina Böhler, Lars Ginzel
PRODUCTION
Florian Koerner von Gustorf, Michael Weber, Anton Kaiser
PRODUCTION COMPANY
Schramm Film Koerner Weber Kaiser, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF), ARTE
CAST
Paula Beer, Barbara Auer, Matthias Brandt, Enno Trebs, Philip Frossant, Victoire Laly, Marcel Heuperman, Hendrik Heutmann
