Amnesia

2015 · France · 96 min

Director: Barbet Schroeder
Screenplay: Barbet Schroeder, Peter Steinbach
Producer: Margaret Menegoz, Ruth Waldburger
Music: Luciano
Cinematography: Luciano Tovoli
Editing: Nelly Quettier
Production company: Les Films du Losange

Cast

Corinna Kirchhoff

Marie Leuenberger

Fermí Reixach i García

Fabian Krüger

Florentin Groll

What it is about

Jo, a young composer of electronic music who has come from Berlin, hopes to build a career as a DJ on the Ibiza club scene of 1990. Near his rented home lives Martha, a woman who has spent decades alone in a house overlooking the sea and refuses to speak German. A friendship forms between them, shaped by the mysteries surrounding her and by a past that takes time to come to light.

How it was made

Directed by Barbet Schroeder, who co-wrote the script with Peter Steinbach, the film is a Swiss-French co-production produced by Margaret Ménégoz and Ruth Waldburger through Les Films du Losange. Schroeder has said he wanted the refusal of a language to drive the drama and a love story to unfold without sex, through a series of unspoken agreements. Luciano Tovoli shot the film, Luciano composed the score and Nelly Quettier edited it. Marthe Keller and Max Riemelt lead the cast, alongside Bruno Ganz and Corinna Kirchhoff.

Reception and legacy

The film was selected for the Special Screenings section of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. It considers how three generations of Germans relate to the crimes of Nazi Germany. The sources consulted do not record wide critical reception or major awards, so its place in film history remains modest.