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Home , Cate Shortland, Sam Neill

W HEN YOU R LIFE IS A LIE WHO CAN YOU TRU ST?

A FILM BY CATE SHORTLAND www.athoms.fr graphic design :

W ORLD SALES AND FESTIV AL M EMENTO FILMS INTERNATIONAL 9, cité Paradis - 75010 Paris – France Tel: 33 1 53 34 90 33 - Fax: 33 1 42 47 11 24 [email protected] [email protected] A GERMAN – AUSTRALIAN OFFICIAL CO- PRODU CTION A ROHF ILM, PORCHLIG HT FILMS, ED G E CITY FILMS PRODU CTION

A FILM BY CATE SHORTLAND

P RODU CED BY KARSTEN STÖTER LIZ WATTS PAU L WELSH BENNY DRECHSEL

W RITTEN BY CATE SHORTLAND ROBIN MU KHERJEE

ROHFILM PORCHLIG HT FILMS EDG E CITY FILMS Eisenbahnstraße 99 #31 94 Oxford St. 6 t h F l o o r , 04315 Leipzig G ermany 2 0 1 0 D a r l i n g h u r s t 41 St. V i n c e n t P l a c e Tel: 49 34 1681 8870 (New South Wales) Australia G lasgow G 1 2ER Fax: 49 34 1681 8802 T e l : 6 1 2 9 3 2 6 9 9 1 6 Scotland U K Fax: 61 2 9357 1479 Tel: 44 141 221 5290

W ORLD SALES AND FESTIV AL M EMENTO FILMS INTERNATIONAL 9, cité Paradis - 75010 Paris – France Tel: 33 1 53 34 90 33 - Fax: 33 1 42 47 11 24 [email protected] [email protected]

RUNNING TIME 108 MIN l S HOOT GAUGE SUPER 1 6 MM COLOU R l L ANGUA G E GERMAN Y EAR OF P RODU CTION 2 0 1 2 l S CREEN R ATIO 1:85.1 l S O U ND D OLBY D I G ITAL S R D SYNOPSIS

At the close of the war in Germany 1945, a group of children set out to cross a devastated country to reach their Grandmother some 900 km to the North. The eldest, Lore, is left in charge of her four younger siblings when their SS Nazi parents are taken into Allied custody. The children must make a journey that exposes them to the reality and consequences of their parent’s actions. In meeting the charismatic and intriguing Thomas, a young jewish refugee, Lore soon finds her world shattered by feelings of both hatred and desire. She is transfixed by her fear of the young man, but must trust the one person whom she has always been taught is the enemy in order to survive. DIRECTOR’S NOTE From the Director, Cate Shortland

When I first read ‘The Dark Room’ by tander or even worse, complicit. Lore and her siblings are the privileged I was drawn to understand her fight with Rachel Seiffert it resonated with me on The story is also close to me as my hus- children of a high ranking SS officer in- her own humanity and sense of belon- many levels. The three distinct stories band’s German Jewish family left Berlin volved in mass murder in Belarus. While ging. The outside world is oblivious to in the novel make history experiential in 1936. It is his family photographs in they play hopscotch, children across Lore and her siblings’ plight and Lore and intimate as each is told from the Thomas’s wallet. And it is his grandmo- Europe are being systematically murde- becomes more and more detached perspective of a young person trying ther’s stories that also tie me to Lore, red. Lore’s family is untouched until her from society. But within her detachment to make sense of fascist Germany. The to wanting to understand this dark and father returns from the East in 1945. In is a growing certainty - she is lost and struggles of the characters are distur- painful time. Although I speak virtually 1939 Lore’s father was a war hero, in adrift but she knows something of the bing but also utterly moving. I was fas- no German I knew that the film had to 1945 when the film begins, he is a cri- awful truth. She has been taught never cinated by Lore’s internal landscape; a be made in that language to have any minal. I wanted to understand what this to question but to obey. By the end of frightening place filled with a strange level of truth. I worked with the German does to the psyche of a child. How does the story she is full of questions that combination of surety and ambiguity. script editor Franz Rodenkirchen and a person grow up knowing that those she knows will never be answered. The book was given to me by Scottish interviewed elderly Berliners who had closest to them have committed unima- producer, Paul Welsh after a screening been members of Hitler Jugend and ginable crimes and that genocide hap- Albert Speer’s children stated they of my first film, SOMERSAULT in Edin- Bund Deutscher Mädel. Their stories pened in the midst of their ‘everyday’. could never ask their father about the burgh. Liz Watts, my Australian producer, and attitudes and even on occasion, a Holocaust and his role in Germany’s had given the book to my husband as a complicated nostalgia, helped me un- What drew me to Lore and at times slave labor program. Albert Speer Jr. birthday present a few months before. derstand Lore. repulsed and angered me, was the op- recently stated, “The fact is that when There was sense of serendipity. The research I did, especially that into portunity to delve into the grey areas. he came back home, I could have asked the Einsatzgruppen in Belarus was at Lore is a believer in one of the most him all those questions. I thought about Rachel writes in fragments, stark ob- times overwhelming. The victims were abhorrent and destructive political ideo- it and I didn’t do it.” His daughter Hilde servations without commentary. It was always just outside of the frame for me. logies of our time. I wanted to unders- stated. “I made it easier for him because frightening to think of adapting her There was no other way of making the tand her lack of empathy, her romantic I only asked up to a certain point and I novel to film, as she draws no conclu- film. This was a reality in the filming as determination to keep believing even accepted the answers he gave me.” His sions. The story was relevant to me, in well, some of the beautiful houses we when Germany was suffering defeat. third son Arnold stated simply, “I never terms of what it means to be the child used as locations in the former GDR Hitler was seen not only as her Fuhrer asked him anything connected to the of perpetrators. Australia’s relationship were built by Jewish merchants before but also as a beloved father figure. As Third Reich.” They didn’t ask because to its colonial history is suppressed, and the war. Now they stand empty and de- he stated “The weak must be chiseled they couldn’t bear the answers. The lies having spent quite a lot of time in post relict. Many of the locations such as the away. I want young men and women or the truth. Apartheid South Africa and in Germany, armaments factory were manned by who can suffer pain.” Lore feels it is her these questions are often in my mind. slave labourers. Now these places are duty to carry this pain uncomplainingly. Cate Shortland What would I have done in the midst deserted and overgrown. of genocide and horror? Would I have stood up for the weak and persecuted or rather, like most, been a silent bys-

S ASKIA KAI U R S I N A H A N S - J O C H E N R OSENDAHL MALINA LARDI WAG NER (Lore) (Thomas) (Mutti) (Vati)

One of Germany’s most exciting young acting Kai Malina is recognised as one of the rising Ursina Lardi first studied acting at the pres- Hans-Jochen Wagner is a highly esteemed talents, Saskia developed a love for theatre at talents in German film after his breakout role tigious University of Drama, Ernst Busch in German actor. Like Ursina, Hans attended the school in her home city Berlin. She continued in Michael Haneke’s Oscar nominated and Berlin. She is a renowned theatre actress and University of Drama Ernst Busch in Berlin and to hone her craft as a pupil in the renowned Palme d’Or winning THE WHITE RIBBON in has played leading roles on the most reputable further honed his skills with acting workshops Marcel Sparman Performance Art Workshop. 2009. Prior to this role, Kai has starred on stages in German theatre, such as Düssel- at Filmakademie Baden- Wurttemberg under Saskia went on to take parts in several theatre German television with notable performances dorfer Schauspielhaus, Schauspiel Frankfurt, Jurgen Egger, amongst others. His screen productions at the Improvisationstheater Kalts- including DER ALT E, PATCHWORK, TATORT Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg and credits include SIE HABEN KNUT, JENA PA- tart and the Theater Halle, before she played and STROMBERG. the Schaubühne Berlin. RADIES and EVERYBODY ELSE, which won her first role in the movie FÜR ELISE in 2010. Kai is fast becoming one of Germany’s most In 2011/12, Ursina played many leading roles on the Jury Grand Prix at the 2009 Berlin Film Saskia’s amazing screen presence has led her sort after young actors. LORE marks Kai’s se- German television such as EIN STARKES TEAM, Festival. to play the title role of LORE and promises cond feature film role. INKLUSION, TATORT and POLIZEIRUF 110. Hans-Jochen is also an accomplished televi- to be an award winning performance for the Ursina has also starred in many cinema pro- sion actor having starred in over thirty German young German actress. ductions, including the lead in DIE FRAU VON programs, including TATORT and the TV movie FRUHER, directed by Andreas Kleinert. ADEL DICH. It was Michael Haneke’s Palme d’or winning THE WHITE RIBBON where Ursina came to international recognition. P RODU CERS

ROHFILM (Germany) (2002) which won the Teddy award for Best Rohfilm is a German independent production Feature Film at the Berlin Film Festival; short company with offices in Berlin and Leipzig. feature Jewboy selected for Un Certain Regard Founded in 2005 by Karsten Stöter and Benny in 2005 and Sundance Drechsel, Rohfilm develops and finances fea- in 2006; Little Fish, directed by ture films and documentaries for the internatio- and starring , Sam Neill and nal crossover arthouse sector. Rohfilm’s focus which screened at the 2005 is on stories with strong cinematic conviction Toronto International Film Festival and was a as well as finding and fostering filmmakers with winner of 5 AFI awards; and The Home Song distinctive talent. Stories starring Joan Chen which premiered at the 2007 Berlin Film Festival and screened PORCHLIG H T in official selection at the 2007 Toronto Film FILMS (Australia) Festival, as well as winning 11 domestic AFI Porchlight Films is one of Australia's leading awards. independent production companies and the In 2010 Porchlight branched into series format company behind the internationally acclaimed television with the production of the hit-comedy Animal Kingdom (2010) and the thriller The series Laid for ABC TV. A second series of Laid Hunter (2011) starring Willem Dafoe. recently aired on ABC 1 in 2012, and has been Directed by newcomer David Michôd and pro- optioned by NBC for US format rights duced by Porchlight’s Liz Watts, Animal King- dom’s accolades include Oscar and Golden EDG E C I T Y C AT E Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actress FILMS(UK) for , the World Cinema Jury Prize Edge City Films is an independent production SHORTLAND at Sundance, and around 15 local awards. The company based in Glasgow, Scotland (UK). (Writer / Director) film has been sold into around 22 territories Established by Paul Welsh in 2002, the com- worldwide. pany develops and produces feature projects Cate Shortland studied at Sydney University Festival in the ‘Un Certain Regard’ section. In Porchlight's last production is the film adapta- for the international market as well as consul- and graduated with a BA in Fine Arts in 1991. 2004, Cate won Australian Film Institute Awar- tion of ’s acclaimed novel The Hun- ting on story, script and feature film develop- In 2000 she graduated from the Australian Film ds for Best Director and Writer and SOMER- ter. Starring Willem Dafoe, Frances O’Connor ment for international training initiatives and Television and Radio School with a Graduate SAULT was released in over 15 countries. Cate and Sam Neill, and produced by Porchlight’s financiers including Creative Scotland, Screen Diploma in Directing. Cate has written and di- set up and directed a number of episodes of Vincent Sheehan, The Hunter had its World Australia, The Bureau (SoS), and London Film rected four multi award winning short films THE SECRET LIFE OF US for Network 10/ Premiere at the Special Presentation section Festival (Think-Shoot-Distribute). – STRAP ON OLY MPIA (Gold Plaque, Chica- Channel 4 UK. She also directed the 2 x 1 of the Toronto International Film Festival 2011. Prior to Cate Shortland’s ‘Lore’, ECF co-deve- go International Film Festival 1995), PENTU- hour mini series THE SILENCE for ABC TV, Currently, Porchlight’s Liz Watts is also produ- loped and produced the BAFTA and BIFA nomi- PHOUSE (Dendy Award, produced by and most recently cing Dead Europe, written by Louise Fox, di- nated feature ‘Skeletons’, written and directed 1999), FLOWERGIRL (Dendy Award, Sydney adapted one of the stories from Christos Tsiolk- rected by Tony Krawitz (Jewboy, Tall Man) and by Nick Whitfield, winner of the Michael Powell Film Festival 2000, Oberhausen 16mm Best as’ novel THE SLAP for producers produced in association with See Saw Films. Award for Best British Feature (EIFF 2010). Film) and JOY (Best Film, Melbourne Interna- and Helen Bowden, Matchbox Pictures for ABC Porchlight has a catalogue of award winning On a day-to-day basis, ECF works closely with tional Film Fstival 2000). TV, which went on to win numerous ACCTA feature films, television dramas, documenta- sister company DigiCult, developing emerging Cate wrote and directed her first feature SOMER- awards including Best Television Drama Series. ries and short films, that include: independent UK talent through short and feature length live SAULT which premiered at the 2004 Cannes Film box office hit Mullet (2001); Walking On Water action, animation and documentary. S CREEN AUSTRALIA M ITTELDEU TSCHE MEDIENFÖRDERU N G H ESSENI N V EST FILM F ILMFÖRDERU N G SANSTALT Director CATE SHORTLAND F ILMFÖRDERU N G HAMBU R G SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN M EDIEN- UND FILMG ESELLSCHAFT BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG Producers KARSTEN STÖTER, LIZ WATTS, D E U TSCHER FILMFÖRDERFONDS PAUL WELSH, BENNY DRESCHEL

Writers CATE SHORTLAND, ROBIN MUKHERJEE PRESENTS Based on the novel “The Dark Room” by RACHEL SEIFFERT I N ASSOCIATION WITH Executive Producers MARG AR ET MATHE SON , S CREEN NSW C REATIV E SCOTLAND VINCENT SHEEHAN, ANITA SHEEHAN Cinematographer A ROHFILM, PORCHLIG HT FILMS, ED G E CITY FILMS PRODU CTION Editor ASE

Production Designer SILKE FISCHER

Composer

Sound Designer SAM PETTY

Costume Designer STEFANIE BIEKER

Make-Up & Hair Supervisor KATRIN WESTERHAUSEN

Casting JACQUELINE RIETZ, ANJA DIHRBERG S ASKIA ROSENDAHL Sound Recordist MICHAEL BUSCH

K AI MALINA Script Editor FRANZ RODENKIRCHEN

N ELE TREBS Dramaturg HANNE WOLHARN Translations ELISABETH MEISTER URSINA LARDI Line Producer G ermany KU RT OTTERBACHER H ANS- JOCHEN WA G NER Production Manager AXEL UNBESCHEID

M IKA SEIDEL Production Coordinator MATHIAS KRÄMER

A NDRÉ FRID Associate Producer LINDA MICSKO

EVA -MARIA HA G EN