The German Lesson
Deutschstunde

Show Trailer

Germany, just after the Second World War. Siggi Jepsen (Tom Gronau), a young man in juvenile detention, has to write an essay on „The Joys Of Duty“. He can’t get started, the paper stays blank. When he has to repeat the exercise the next day, this time in a cell as punishment, he writes his memories like a man possessed. Memories of his father Jens Ole Jepsen (Ulrich Noethen), a police officer who was one of the authorities in a small, north-German village and dedicated himself totally to the duties of office. During the war he had to deliver a ban on painting to his childhood friend, the Expressionist artist Max Ludwig Nansen (Tobias Moretti), imposed on him by the National Socialists. He oversees it meticulously and Siggi (Levi Eisenblätter), 11-years-old, is told to help him. But Nansen resists – and likewise builds on Siggi’s help, who is like a son for him. The two men’s conflict continually escalates – and Siggi stands between them. Fitting in or resistance? This becomes the decisive question for Siggi…

  • Director

    Christian Schwochow

  • Version

    German (OV)
    with English subtitles

  • Produced by

    Jutta Lieck-Klenke, Dr. Dietrich Kluge, Ulf Israel
    (Network Movie Film- und Fernsehproduktion)

  • Cast

    Ulrich Noethen, Tobias Moretti, Levi Eisenblätter, Johanna Wokalek, Sonja Richter, Maria Dragus, Tom Gronau, Louis Hofmann

  • Genre

    Drama

  • Running Time

    125 min.

  • Release

    Wildbunch Germany
    October 3, 2019

  • Festivals

    Zurich Film Festival 2019 | Guenther Rohrbach Preis 2019 | Filmfest Hamburg 2019 | Tallinn Black Nights 2019 | German FF Moscow 2019 | Bif&st Bari International Film Festival 2020 | Film by the Sea 2020 | German FF Hong Kong 2020 | German Film Awards 2020 | Bavarian Film Awards 2020 | Das Filmfest Prag 2020 | International Crime & Punishment Film Festival 2020 | ALE KINO! Film Festival 2020 | Festival Augenblick (Elsass) | GoetheFest (Belgrad) | German Filmweek (Poland) | Woiwodschaftsbibliothek (Zielona Góra) | KINO/21 German Film Festival (Hong Kong & Macao) | German Film Festival (Australia) | Sunshine Coast Film Festival (Australia)

  • Awards

    Guenther Rohrbach Filmpresi 2019 - Best Cinematography Frank Lamm | Bavarian Film Awards 2020 - Best Cinematography Frank Lamm | Film by the Sea 2020 - Film and Literature Award

  • Year

    2019

  • Status

    completed

credits not contractual

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