

Europe 1990, the Berlin wall has just crumbled: Katrine, raised in East Germany, but now living in Norway for the last 20 years, is a “war child”; the result of a love relationship between a Norwegian woman and a German occupation soldier during World War II. She enjoys a happy family life with her mother, her husband, daughter and granddaughter. But when a lawyer asks her and her mother to witness in a trial against the Norwegian state on behalf of the war children, she resists. Gradually, a web of concealments and secrets is unveiled, until Katrine is finally stripped of everything, and her loved ones are forced to take a stand: What carries more weight, the life they have lived together, or the lie it is based on?
Acting
Juliane Köhler's face does more work than most scripts.
Writing
Revelations land like punches you didn't see coming.

Director
Georg Maas
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Norway's 'Tyskerunger' (German children) faced systematic discrimination until 2005 — the film helped push their official state apology.
Liv Ullmann came out of semi-retirement for this role; it's her last Norwegian-language performance to date.