A young man struggles with the pressure of caring for his terminally ill father while trying to unlock a secret that his father seems determined to keep from him. The story takes another dramatic turn when Ron, Burghardt’s long-lost friend from his youth, re-appears — and a well-kept family secret is uncovered.
Acting
Niewöhner's simmering confusion steals every scene.
Cinematography
Bleak rural Germany as emotional prison — gorgeous and suffocating.
Director
Piotr J. Lewandowski
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was director Lewandowski's feature debut, and he specifically cast Niewöhner after seeing him play conflicted young men in German TV — the repression in his eyes is weaponized here.
The film quietly documents how East German rural communities enforced closeted lives through social pressure rather than law — Burkhard's generation paid a price that Jonathan's barely understands.
DE
