GER24 Blind at Heart

As an aspiring young medical student, Helene (a mesmerising Mala Emde) arrives in the exciting, roaring 1920s Berlin with her sister Martha. Soon she meets and falls in love with Karl (Thomas Prenn) and the world seems to be their oyster. But, as the city’s carefree ambiance darkens, the course of Helene’s life takes a drastic, irreversible turn when the Nazis come into power. She meets handsome Luftwaffe officer Wilhelm and through strokes of fate and the cover-up of her Jewish ancestry during the Nazi era, she is gradually robbed of her identity. Despite the fear, the courage to make an outrageous decision grows, moved by the hope for a new beginning and ready to do anything to start a new life. Based on Julia Franck’s bestselling German Book Prize-winning novel DIE MITTAGSFRAU, Barbara Albert’s adaptation is a touching and emotional portrait of one woman’s resolve to survive. An epic film that spans decades, BLIND AT HEART is a stirring homage to female physicality and self-empowerment.