SYNOPSIS

Summer, 1980. Barbara, a doctor, has applied for an exit visa from the GDR (East Germany). Now, as punishment, she has been transferred from Berlin to a small hospital out in the country, far from everything. Jörg, her lover from the West, is already planning her escape.

Barbara waits, keeping to herself. The new apartment, the neighbors, summertime, the countryside – none of that means anything to her. Working as a pediatric surgeon under her new boss Andre, she is attentive when it comes to the patients, but quite distanced toward her colleagues. Her future, she feels, will begin later.

But Andre confuses her. His confidence in her professional abili- ties, his caring attitude, his smile. Why does he cover for her when she helps the young runaway Sarah? Does he have an as- signment to keep track of her? Is he in love? But as the day of her planned escape quickly approaches, Barbara starts to lose control. Over herself, her plans, over love.

DIRECTOR: Christian Petzold

Christian Petzold is one of the leading directors in New German cinema. The German Film Critics Association has twice awarded him Best Film awards, for the urban drama GHOSTS and THE STATE I AM IN. He was twice named Best Director at the German Film Awards, for the psychological drama WOLFSBURG and THE STATE I AM IN. His first fiction feature, 2000's political drama THE STATE I AM IN, also won Best Screenplay at Thessaloniki (Greece) and the Grand Prize at Valenciennes (France).
Petzold has also received much acclaim for the made- for-TV features SOMETHING TO REMIND ME (TOTER MANN, 2002), Die Beischlafdiebin (1998) and CUBA LIBRE (1995).
Born in 1960, Petzold studied German and Theater Studies at the Free University in Berlin, then graduated from the German Film & Television Academy (DFFB) in 1994.

Selected Filmography
2012 BARBARA
2010 DREILEBEN - BEATS BEING DEAD
2008 JERICHOW
2007 YELLA
2005 GHOSTS (Gespenster)
2003 WOLFSBURG
2002 SOMETHING TO REMIND ME (Toter Mann)
2001 THE STATE I AM IN (Die innere Sicherheit)
1995 CUBA LIBRE