FREEDOM

FREEDOM (FREIHEIT), 2017

Germany, Slovakia| DCP, Color, 100'| German, English, Slovak

Director: Jan Speckenbach

Cast: Johanna Wokalek, Hans-Jochen Wagner, Inga Birkenfeld

A mother abandons her husband and two kids without any explanation. A force pulls her—an undesirable desire to be free... Nora walks around a museum in Vienna, flirts with a young man, and hitchhikes to Bratislava. She tries to hide her identity by telling little lies. She changes her appearance, finds a work as a maid in a hotel, befriends a Slovakian stripper named Etela and her chef husband Tamás. Meanwhile, Philip tries to hold on to his family in Berlin, his job and his relationship with Monika. It is not easy raising kids as a single parent and since his daily life has turned into a mess after Nora’s disappearance, he also finds it hard to relate to Monika. Freedom! competed at this year’s Locarno Film Festival, and is the second feature length film from Jan Speckenbach whose first filmReported Missing (Die Vermissten)was presented at the Brand New Films from Germany program in 2012.