Beyond Silence

Late Summer Cinema in the Goethe-Institut Garden

Feature film, Teen movie // 109 minutes // 1996 // Directed by: Caroline Link

Lara's parents are deaf-mute. This changes the relationship of power and obligation within the family, for the girl has to act as an intermediary with the outside world from a very early age. She must also "translate", be it a telephone call, the meeting between her parents and her teacher, or when negotiating a loan with the bank. After finishing school, Lara plans to leave the small Bavarian town to study music in Berlin. This creates major problems with her father, problems which are intensified by her mother's death.