PMA Films: Amrum

Directed by Fatih Akin. 93 minutes. Not Rated. In German with English subtitles.

It is the Spring of 1945 on the German island of Amrum, a remote outpost in the North Sea. The front is far away, and 12-year-old Nanning (newcomer Jasper Billerbeck) spends his days working the nearby farm and his nights fishing, helping his mother to feed their family. Despite the hardship, life on the beautiful, windswept isle seems idyllic. When their anti-fascist neighbor Tessa (Diane Kruger) mentions to Nanning that the war will soon be over, the boy – too young to understand the political implications – is pleased to imagine that his father, a Nazi officer, might soon be coming home. But his mother Hille (Laura Tonke) is a true believer, and word of Germany’s imminent defeat sends her into decline. One day from her sick bed, she wishes for white bread, butter and honey, near impossible luxuries on Amrum which Nanning innocently tries to find for her. But as he sets off on his quest, he learns from his neighbors that the enemy is far closer than he imagined. From Golden Globe Award-winning filmmaker Fatih Akin (In the Fade, Head-On), Amrum is a tender coming-of-age tale about the loss of innocence set against the waning days of the Second World War.