KRIEGERIN

Marisa is twenty, works in her mother’s grocery shop in a small East German town, and belongs to the town’s far-right clique. Swastika tattoos, alcohol and violence against strangers are part of daily life; fifteen-year-old Svenja, who comes from a cold home, looks to Marisa as a role model and pushes her way into the group. Then Marisa’s order starts to slip: her boyfriend Sandro is sent to prison, her beloved grandfather falls ill, Svenja challenges her standing – and two Afghan asylum seekers who turn up in the shop lead her to an act for which the clique no longer offers any protection. “Kriegerin” by David Wnendt, Germany 2011, stays with this character without excusing her.

Wnendt tells the story without explanations from outside, staying close to his central character; Alina Levshin plays Marisa, Jella Haase plays Svenja. It premiered at the Munich Film Festival in 2011, and in the same year won the First Steps Award for feature film. At the German Film Awards in 2012 it won the Bronze Film Award for best feature film, the award for best screenplay, and, for Levshin, the award for best actress. The film was shown at Around the World in 14 Films in Berlin in 2011, in the Deutschland Spezial section.

Shown at the 2011 edition of Around the World in 14 Films.

All films 2011 · Film Archive