The film takes a fresh approach to issues related to Nazi Germany. In the early 1940s, David, a Jewish German, is attempting to escape across the border. A farmer from the Black Forest finds him and shelters him in his barn. Childless, the farmer asks David to impregnate his wife.
This setting is the background within which the complexity of humanity is revealed in all characters, with new beginnings supplementing human failures. The title of the film is particularly apt: Schonzeit is the season of protection for animals when no hunting is allowed; the close of Schonzeit opens the time of hunting. It applies at various levels: David’s protection ends with betrayal, the closure of emotions ends with vulnerability and openness.
36th World Film Festival Montreal
23.08.2012 to 03.09.2012
Montreal
Schonzeit (Closed Season), by Franziska Schlotterer
Awards
Closed Season
Directed by:
2012
Dearest
Directed by:
2012
A new widower must deal with the final request of his wife to take her ashes to a distant town. His journey leads him to accept the flow of life; the film illuminates the transcendent dimensions of life and human relationships.
More about the festival
An interesting phenomenon emerging in a number of films shown at the Montreal Festival of World Films this year is a focus on death as a natural and acceptable part of life, rather than on death as the feared enemy of life. Three films in particular stood out, says jury member Marjorie Suchocki.
