A Luxembourg-Germany-France Co-production in English, co-produced by Nicolas Steil of Luxembourg's Iris Production.
Directed by Florian Gallenberger (Shadows of Time; City of War: The Story of John Rabe) and starring Emma Watson (Harry Potter series; The Perks of Being a Wallflower; Noah; My Week with Marilyn), Daniel Brühl (Rush; The Bourne Ultimatum; Burnt; Woman in Gold; The Fifth Estate), Michael Nyqvist (Abduction; Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol; John Wick; The Girl Who Played with Fire), Vicky Krieps (A Most Wanted Man; Hanna; House of Boys) and Steve Karier (A Wopbobaloobop a Lopbamboom; Perl oder Pica).
Set among the military coup in Chile in 1973, activist and photographer Daniel (Daniel Brühl) is captured by Augustin Pinochet's secret police. Distraught, air hostess Lena (Emma Watson) tracks him down to the Colonia Dignidad where men and women are kept apart and ruled with an iron fist by Paul Schäfer (Michael Nyqvist) who appears to the outside world to be a religious preacher running a charitable mission, despite the torture going on behind closed doors - it a place from which nobody has escaped. Lena decides the only way to find Daniel is to join the cult as a naive religious girl who befriends Ursel (Vicky Krieps). Meanwhile, Daniel fakes being a simpleton to avoid further torture and stay alive, working with Bernd (Steve Karier) in his workshop.
The film tells the true story of the secret regime of Paul Schäfer which only came to light years afterwards, including various links with those comnplicit. The gritty story-telling, the cinematography and the costumes combine to present a very realistic picture of the times and living withing the institution. The shooting locations of the buildings at the slate mines in Martelange as well as the forest scenes shot in the Mullerthal region make great substitutes for the original, as can be seen in the closing credits where original photographs were presented. The director does particularly well in creating suspense, using both the editing and soundtrack to create feelings of dread and anticipation in equal measure.
In the post-screening Q&A session at the Avant-Premier of the film at the Luxembourg City Film Festival, director Florian Gallenberger gave a thorough insight into the conditions at Colonia Dignidad including the segregation, abuse and the overall regime of terror, as well as the various associated legal cases with some continuing.
It's great to see Luxembourg involved so much is such a co-production which has got world-wide distribution, with Nicolas Steil of Luxembourg's Iris Productions as co-producer ensuring that most of the film was shot in the Grand Duchy. The film will go on general release in Luxembourg on 9 March 2016.
