The feature film “Trümmermädchen – Germany Year Zero” (German title: “Trümmermädchen – Die Geschichte der Charlotte Schumann“) by director Oliver Kracht will be released nationwide in cinemas on 24 March 2022 on the Artkeim² label distributed by UCM.ONE.
The film, for whose screenplay Oliver Kracht was already awarded the Thomas Strittmatter Prize at the Berlinale in 2019, celebrated its world premiere at the 55th Hofer Filmtage in 2021, where it received a Special Mention from the jury of the Förderpreis Neues Deutsches Kino in addition to the Bild-Kunst-Förderpreis for the “Best Costume Design and Best Production Design”.
The long reverberating, provocative story of emancipation set against the backdrop of a new beginning in the ruins of World War II features an impressive Laura Balzer (nominated for the Götz George Young Talent Award at the First Steps Awards) in the lead role, who, with the support of a terrific, predominantly female ensemble (including Valery Cheplanova, Lena Urzendowsky), takes us on the emotional journey of the character scarred by trauma and oppression.
Synopsis
Germany, 1946. Hunger, rubble, returning soldiers. Charlotte is pregnant, but her beloved homecomer wants neither her nor his child. To win him over and escape the threat of disgrace, she enrols in the “Fräulein Course” run by actress Gloria Deven, who was an aspiring film starlet under fascism and is now banned from working.
But Gloria, with her merciless teaching, is not interested in reviving the girls’ coquetry, which has become unnecessary during the war. Instead, she awakens in Lotte a longing for something that has been denied her for too long: Freedom.
“Trümmermädchen – Germany Year Zero” tells the story of young women’s self-empowerment against the backdrop of the ruins of World War II in intense, extraordinary images and is a blazing plea for cohesion and sisterhood.
More information about the film: Trümmermädchen – Germany Year Zero
