Home From Home: Chronicle Of A Vision

Screening Dates:
Sun 10 May 2:00pm

Director: Edgar Reitz
Cast: Jan Dieter Schneider, Antonia Bill, Maximilian Scheidt, Marita Breuer, Rüdiger Kriese, Philine Lembeck, Mélanie Fouché

In German with English subtitles.

In the mid 19th century, famine, poverty and despotism made the lives of ordinary people in  Europe almost unbearable. As a result, hundreds of thousands of them emigrated to faraway South America. “Any fate is better than death” was the bitter conclusion that at the same time nurtured their hopes for a decent future elsewhere.

Edgar Reitz unfolds this “chronicle of quest” against the backdrop of this unforgotten drama. Once again the fictitious village of Schabbach is the setting – microcosm and universe at one and the same time. Here we witness the story of two brothers who realize that only their dreams can save them.

A prequel to Reitz’s celebrated Heimat sagas which trace the lives of the Simon family from 1919 to 2000 through the tragedies and triumphs of German history, Home From Home is a towering achievement from the 81-year-old director.

The winner of the Best German Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay at the 2014 Lola awards, the film acts as a timely reminder of poverty and the struggles faced by immigrants on foreign countries. Beautifully shot in black and white and featuring period costumes sourced from Rhineland villages, Der Spiegel hailed it as ‘a terrific completion of Reitz’s masterpiece’.