Poll Diaries

“Half-way between sweeping historical epic and a poetic coming-of-age love story (…) with all the earmarks of an Oscar contender, this is that rare film that appeals to both critics and general audiences.” Deborah Young (The Hollywood Reporter)

Genre Drama
Year of Production 2010
Director Chris Kraus
Principal Cast Edgar Selge, Paula Beer, Richy Müller, Jeanette Hain, Tambet Tuisk
Length 129 mins
International Festival Screenings Toronto 2010, Rome 2010, Sevilla Festival de Cine Europeo 2010, Tallinn Black Nights 2010, Palm Springs 2011, Göteborg 2011, Seattle 2011, Shanghai 2011
Awards Marc Aurelio Special Jury Award & Politeama di Catancaro Award (Best Music: Annette Focks) Rome 2010,
Best Director Tallinn 2010, Bavarian Film Prize 2010 (Best Actor Edgar Selge, Best Up-and-Coming Actress Paula Beer, Best Production Design Silke Buhr), German Film Award 2011 (Richy Müller Best Supporting Actor, Daniela Knapp Best Cinematography, Silke Buhr Best Production Design, Gioia Raspé Best Costume Design)

On the eve of World War I, 14-year-old Oda von Siering returns to Poll, her family home on the Baltic coast, a region uneasily shared by Germans, Russians and Estonians. With her are the mortal remains of her mother, who passed away in Berlin. Awaiting the bright and inquisitive girl are her father Ebbo, an eccentric scientist with a dubious interest in racial breeding; her aunt Milla, who flees reality through music and affairs; and other members of her aristocratic German family, who are clinging to their privileges in a world on the brink of disaster. Upon finding a wounded Estonian anarchist on the estate, the passionate, impulsive Oda fearlessly hides him and secretly nurses him back to health, aware that her deed could trigger a chain reaction of uncontrollable violence.
The Poll Diaries hauntingly evokes the end-of-days atmosphere of a doomed society at the crossroads of the German and Russian Empires in the early years of the 20th century. Following his award-winning Four Minutes, director Chris Kraus now presents the masterly portrait of a segment of civilization and humanity sliding into chaos and anarchy.

Chris Kraus was already a noted scriptwriter before making his debut as a director with Shattered Glass (2002), which was awarded two Bavarian Film Prizes, among other awards. His second film, Four Minutes (2006), was one of the most  successful German films of the past years and won over 50 German and international awards. Kraus is also a distinguished opera director (Premio Abbiati for his Fidelio in Reggio Emilia).

Source: German Films Service & Marketing GmbH

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