A Woman in Berlin January 24, 2010

This series is free and open to the public. All films are shown in Jepson Hall 118 unless otherwise noted. Friday showings are at 3:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday showings are at 7:30 p.m. The films are shown in the original language with English subtitles. For more information, please contact Paul Portefield.

A Woman in Berlin

January 22 & 24
Poland/Germany, 2008
Directed by Max Farberbock
131 minutes (No MPAA Rating)

Set in the spring of 1945, A Woman in Berlin reveals a raw and grave portrayal of a devastated and pillaged Berlin slum in days preceding Hitler’s suicide when the Russian army seized control over the land and the decimated population of surviving German women. Based on a true story, director Max Farberbock brings alive accounts rarely depicted by mainstream film from a young woman’s published journal, who for years called herself ‘Anonyma’, and the method she used to survive this time in World War II. The young author (Nina Ross) struggles to hold on to her dignity by using her knowledge of the Russian language to attempt to control the terms of her captivity by aligning herself sexually with a protector, in this case a high ranking Russian officer named Andrej (Evgeny Sidikhin). His complexity is represented through his instinctive decency towards ‘Anonyma’ and his unquestioning loyalty to Stalin. Their bond is both tender and tense and is emphasized by Farberbock’s use off-center close-ups and fast cuts that convey the danger and fear involved without resorting to graphic extremity. A Woman in Berlin received its world premier at the 2009 Berlin International Film Festival.

Official Website: http://library.richmond.edu/mrc/international-film-series.html