Nina Hoss Ronald Zehrfeld Nina Kunzendorf a Film By
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NINA HOSS RONALD ZEHRFELD NINA KUNZENDORF A FILM BY CHRISTIAN PETZOLD filmswelike SYNOPSIS June, 1945. Badly injured, her face destroyed, Auschwitz survivor Nelly returns to her hometown, Berlin. She’s accompanied by Lene, a Jewish Agency employee and Nelly’s friend from pre-war days. Having barely recovered from facial surgery, Nelly ignores Lene’s warnings and sets out to find her husband, Johnny – the love of her life who, by refusing to abandon their marriage, protected her from Nazi persecution for so long. Nelly’s family has been murdered in the Holocaust. Johnny is con- vinced that his wife, too, is dead. When Nelly finally tracks him down, he recognizes nothing but an unnerving resemblance and doesn’t believe it could really be her. Hoping to secure her family’s inheri- tance, Johnny suggests to Nelly that she take on the identity of his late wife. Nelly agrees: She becomes her own imposter. She wants to know whether Johnny loved her – and whether he betrayed her. Nelly wants her old life back. 2 3 CHRISTIAN FILMPOGRAPHY 2014 PHOENIX PETZOLD 2012 BARBARA 2011 DREILEBEN (BEATS BEING DEAD) TV feature writer-director 2008 JERICHOW 2007 YELLA 2005 GHOSTS (Gespenster) 2003 WOLFSBURG 2002 SOMETHING TO REMIND ME (Toter Mann) 2001 THE STATE I AM IN (Die innere Sicherheit) The first day of shooting for Phoenix: a birch forest, a man in Wehrmacht uniform, looking through peepholes into a sealed room. They’re observing a couple who, women in concentration camp garb. Our reference was a photograph supplied by according to their records, used to be passionately in love. The Nazi doctors are the Shoah Foundation: a coarse-grain color picture of a woodland crossroads in trying to revive this love: They want the couple to sleep with each other. The aim impressionistic morning light. And, only at second glance, death: the corpse in the is to establish whether the woman has been successfully sterilized. They try every- grass. Even during the shoot, we noticed that something wasn’t right. The light thing: champagne, red light, spraying them with ice-cold water – thinking that the was good, we’d settled on the framing, it seemed like an accurate recreation of need for warmth might drive them together again. But nothing happens – the two the image, but it didn’t work. The reconstruction of the horror, the cinematography of them don’t look at each other. In a strange way, the Nazi doctors’ failure is a Born in Hilden in 1960. Studied German and Theater at the Freie Universität Berlin norama and the Grimme Prize), GHOSTS (2005; selected for competition at the in and around Auschwitz – as if we were saying, “Now it’s time. Now we’re going victory for love: a love lost that can’t be re-kindled by these criminals. I think that (“Free University of Berlin”), then, from 1988 to 1994, Film Directing at the DFFB Berlinale, winner of the German Film Critics’ Award), YELLA (2007; winner of the to condense the whole thing into a story and impose order on it.” We threw away was the most significant text for us. Is it possible to leap back over the deep, ni- (“German Film and Television Academy Berlin”). Worked as assistant director to Silver Bear at the Berlinale and the German Film Award for Nina Hoss), JERICHOW all the material from that first day of shooting. hilistic chasm torn by the National Socialists and the Germans, and to reconstruct Harun Farocki and Hartmut Bitomsky. Christian Petzold’s award-winning films in- (2008; selected for competition at the Venice Film Festival, winner of the German things: emotions, love, compassion, empathy – life? clude PILOTINNEN (“Pilots”, 1995), CUBA LIBRE (1996; winner of the Jury’s Ad- Film Critics’ Award) and BEATS BEING DEAD (2011); winner of the Grimme Prize Raul Hilsberg wrote that the terror meted out by the Nazis and the obedient public vancement Award at the Max Ophüls Festival), DIE BEISCHLAFDIEBIN (“The Sex and German Television Award. Christian Petzold’s film BARBARA won prizes inclu- essentially made use of well-known techniques. What was novel were the exter- Nelly doesn’t accept that stories, songs, poems – that love is no longer meant to Thief”, 1998; winner of the Producers’ Prize at the Max Ophüls Festival), THE ding the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 2012 Berlinale and was selected as mination camps – the industrial extermination of people. For the old techniques, be possible. She wants to turn back time. I’m interested in people who don’t accept STATE I AM IN (2001; winner of the German Film Award for Best Fiction Film and one of the “top five foreign language films” by the USA National Board of Review. there was literature, stories, songs… None of that exists for the Holocaust. something and, in doing so, are defiant and stubborn. the Hessen Film Award), SOMETHING TO REMIND ME (2002; winner of the Grimme The film’s further accolades include a nomination for the European Film Award Prize, the German Television Award and the FIPA d’Or, Biarritz), WOLFSBURG (2003; and a silver German Film Award. One text had a major influence on our preparations: Ein Liebesversuch (‘An Expe- (Christian Petzold) winner of the International Federation of Film Critics’ Award at the Berlinale Pa- riment in Love’) by Alexander Kluge. The story is set in Auschwitz. The Nazis are 4 5 RONALD ZEHRFELD Johnny Born in Berlin in 1977. Studied Acting at the Ernst Busch Hochschule für Schauspielkunst (“Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts”), Berlin. He has had theater roles at the Deutsches Theater (German Theater in Berlin), the St Pauli Theater in Hamburg and the Berlin Ensemble with Peter Zadek and Hans Neuenfels. In 2005, Ronald Zehrfeld made his NINA HOSS film debut in Dominik Graf’s THE RED COCKATOO, leading to his no- mination for the New Faces Award. His other films include 12 PACES Nelly WITHOUT A HEAD (2009, dir. Sven Taddiken), SHORES OF HOPE (2012, dir. Toke Constantin Hebbeln), WEISSENSEE (2013, dir. Frie- demann Fromm), FINSTERWORLD (2013, dir. Frauke Finsterwalder), Born 1975 in Stuttgart. Studied Acting at the Ernst Busch Hochschule für Schau- WOMAN IN BERLIN (2007, dir. Max Färberböck), GOLD (2013, dir. Thomas Arslan) LOSE MY SELF (2014, dir. Jan Schomburg), INBETWEEN WORLDS spielkunst (“Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts”), Berlin. While still a student, and A MOST WANTED MAN (2014, dir. Anton Corbijn). Nina Hoss has worked with (2014, dir. Feo Aladag) and BELOVED SISTERS (2014, dir. Dominik she played the lead role in Bernd Eichinger’s A GIRL CALLED ROSEMARIE (1996). Christian Petzold since 2002. She won the Adolf Grimme Prize for SOMETHING TO Graf). Ronald Zehrfeld’s accolades include the German Television Since then, she has become one of Germany’s best-known theater and film act- REMIND ME in 2003 and WOLFSBURG in 2005. For YELLA (2007), she was awar- Award and the Grimme Prize for Dominik Graf’s IN FACE OF THE resses. Nina Hoss’s accolades include the Gertrud Eysoldt Ring for her role in ded the Berlinale Silver Bear and the German Film Award. Her next collaboration CRIME, as well as the 2014 Grimme Prize for MORD IN EBERS- MEDEA at the Deutsches Theater (German Theater in Berlin), the 2006 Bavarian with Christian Petzold was JERICH0W (2008). For BARBARA (2012), she was awar- WALDE (“Murder in Eberswalde”, dir. Stephan Wagner). He was Film Award for THE WHITE MASSAI (dir. Hermine Huntgeburth) and the 2009 Bre- ded the Capri Hollywood European Actress Award and was nominated for the Eu- nominated for the German Film Award as Best Supporting Actor for mer Film Prize. Her other films include ATOMISED (2006, dir. Oskar Roehler), A ropean Film Award. his role in Christian Petzold’s BARBARA (2012). 6 7 NINA KUNZENDORF Lene Born 1971 in Mannheim. Studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst (“Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts”) in Ham- burg before taking on roles at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg and the Munich Kammerspiele. She has acted for television THE CHASM since 2002, for example in Rainer Kaufmann’s MARIA’S LAST JOUR- CHRISTIAN PETZOLD, NINA HOSS, RONALD ZEHRFELD AND NINA KUNZENDORF ON PHOENIX NEY (2005, winner of the Bavarian Television Award) and UNSPOKEN (2010, winner of the Grimme Prize and the German Television Award for Best Actress). For YEARS OF LOVE (2011, dir. Matti Geschonnek), BEGINNINGS France. And that’s when we started thinking about German post-war cinema – why she won the Golden Camera for Best Actress and the Adolf Grimme it is that we have no comedies or genre films – and the idea that National Socialism Prize. For her role as Commissioner in the German series SCENE OF [CHRISTIAN PETZOLD] “Filmkritik magazine’s issue on Vertigo included an article created an abyss into which you’re thrown again and again. THE CRIME (in those episodes produced by the Hessen Broadcasting by Harun Farocki called ‘Switched women’. One of the examples he cited in his Corporation between 2010-2012), Nina Kunzendorf was awarded essay was a book by Hubert Monteilhet called Return from the Ashes, on which Years later, when I started working on Barbara and was presented with the lovers the Golden Camera for Best Actress and the Hessen Television Prize. the film draws. Later, when I met Harun Farocki, we spent a lot of time talking about played by Nina Hoss and Ronald Zehrfeld, I thought maybe I could tell the story Her cinema roles include ROSENSTRASSE (2003, dir. Margarethe von this book. We asked ourselves whether, perhaps, a story like that – a kind of mixture through them.