Films A to Z

Schwesterlein

Runtime:
99 min.
Year of Production:
2020
Country:
Switzerland
Director:
Cast:
Nina Hoss
Lars Eidinger
Marthe Keller
Jens Albinus
Thomas Ostermeier
Linne-Lu Lungershausen
Noah Tscharland
Production Company:
Berlinale Section:
Competition
Berlinale Category:
Feature Film

Lisa has given up her ambitions as a playwright in Berlin and moved to Switzerland with her children and husband, who runs an international school there. When her twin brother Sven, a star actor at Berlin’s Schaubühne theatre, falls ill with leukaemia, Lisa returns to the German capital. His hopes of getting back on the stage give Sven the strength he needs to fight the disease. But when his
condition deteriorates and his mother, also an actor, proves unreliable, Lisa takes the reins and whisks her brother back to Switzerland. She hopes that new treatments, family life and mountain air will work a miracle.

Brother and sister, Berlin and Switzerland, life and theatre, sickness and health. With its outstanding leading cast, Schwesterlein (My Little Sister) interweaves these complementary binaries into a mature, moving and complex drama. This film explores the meaning of healing and sacrifice, the integrity of an adult sibling relationship – a topic that has rarely been addressed as it is here – and artistic work as a core aspiration in life. A fairy tale, with two adults as Hansel and Gretel, the theatre as the gingerbread house and the illness as the evil witch.

BIOGRAFIE Véronique Reymond

Born in Switzerland in 1974, she has been collaborating with Stéphanie Chuat for many years.

FILMOGRAFIE Véronique Reymond (selection)

2020 Schwesterlein  2010 Das kleine Zimmer  2009 Buffo Buten & Howard (Documentary)  2004 Berlin Backstage (Short) 

BIOGRAFIE Stéphanie Chuat

Swiss filmmakers Stéphanie Chuat (born in 1970) and Véronique Reymond met each other at school. As actors, they have performed in numerous theatre productions and have also appeared as a stage duo. One of their first short films, Berlin Backstage, was shot at the Berlin Philharmonie and won the Berlin Today Award at the 2004 Berlinale. In 2005, they directed the first of several documentaries. Their debut feature La petite chambre screened at Locarno in 2010 and represented Switzerland at the 2011 Oscars. In 2014, they wrote and directed the TV series À livre ouvert.

FILMOGRAFIE Stéphanie Chuat (selection)

2020 Schwesterlein  2018 Les Dames (Documentary)  2010 Das kleine Zimmer  2009 Buffo Buten & Howard (Documentary)  2004 Berlin Backstage (Short) 

Stéphanie Chuat @IMDb
Véronique Reymond @IMDb
Little Sister @IMDb
Interview with Stéphanie Chuat and Véronique Reymond on 'Schwesterlein'
Trailer (german)

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