Goethe-Cinema Ottawa
Director: Nora Fingscheidt; 2019, Germany, 119 min.
With: Helena Zengel, Albrecht Schuch, Maryam Zaree
German with English subtitles.
Silver Bear Alfred Bauer Prize, Berlin International Film festival 2019
Wherever Benni (Helena Zengel) ends up, she is immediately expelled. The wild 9-year-old girl has already become what child protection services call a "system crasher", a term for particularly serious cases. She’s passed on from institution to institution, but the quick-tempered girl actually only wants one thing – going home and stay with her mommy. But Bianca (Lisa Hagmeister) is overwhelmed with this uncontrollable child. In fact, she is afraid of her own daughter and abandons her repeatedly. Benni's supervisor at child protection services tries her best to find a permanent home for Benni.
Finally, she hires the anti-aggression trainer Micha (Albrecht Schuch). Will he be able to succeed where all others despaired?
Nora Fingscheidt's directing debut is haunting and authentic. The young protagonist Helena Zengel (known from "The Daughter" by Mascha Schilinski) plays her role with an intensity that almost hurts:
“The talented Zengel […] has startling maturity as an actress while playing childish. It’s the realism she brings to Benni’s warped personality, starved for love and security, that gives the film its most intense and affecting scenes.”
"The strength of the film lies in this sensual process, which brings the viewer at eye level with the child who is as tortured as it is tormented." (Sabine Horst, DIE ZEIT)
The film has already gained international success, won the Silver Bear at the Berlinale 2019 and is the German contribution to the best foreign language film at the Oscars 2020.
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