Oxnard Film Society Presents Amrum [Germany]

Another in the foreign film series, this one from Germany, in German with English subtitles]. It has been rated by Rotten Tomatoes: 96%/-- [Critics/Audiences]. It is rated NR.

It is the Spring of 1945 on the German island of Amrum, a remote outpost in the North Sea. The front is far away, and 12-year-old Nanning (newcomer Jasper Billerbeck) spends his days working the nearby farm and his nights fishing, helping his mother to feed their family. Despite the hardship, life on the beautiful, windswept isle seems idyllic. When their anti-fascist neighbor Tessa (Diane Kruger) mentions to Nanning that the war will soon be over, the boy – too young to understand the political implications – is pleased to imagine that his father, a Nazi officer, might soon be coming home. But his mother Hille (Laura Tonke) is a true believer, and word of Germany’s imminent defeat sends her into decline. One day from her sick bed, she wishes for white bread, butter and honey, near impossible luxuries on Amrum which Nanning innocently tries to find for her. But as he sets off on his quest, he learns from his neighbors that the enemy is far closer than he imagined. From Golden Globe Award-winning filmmaker Fatih Akin (*In the Fade*, *Head-On*), *Amrum* is a tender coming-of-age tale about the loss of innocence set against the waning days of the Second World War.

**Critics' Consensus**

All the more emotionally powerful because of its dramatic restraint, *Amrum* is a painterly coming-of-age picture that thoughtfully expands filmmaker Fatih Akin's career-spanning exploration of German identity.

**Review from Thelma Adams [AARP]**

*Just when I thought I couldn’t sit through another coming-of-age film, much less one set in WWII under the blight of Nazism, I discovered how wrong I could be. Amrum is a small miracle of a movie. Based on the boyhood of cowriter Hark Bohm (who died in November at 86), the beautifully shot film stars Jasper Billerbeck as 12-year-old Nanning, who lives with his mother and siblings on a remote German North Sea island under the flight path of Allied bombers making their last runs over Germany. When his despairing mother has a fourth child, all she wants to eat is white bread, honey and butter — nearly impossible to obtain in a time of scarcity. His quest to satisfy her hunger, and his discovery of his roots in the local Nazi-resistant fishing village while his father is away fighting for the Germans, creates an enormous tension. The tremendous German American actress Diane Kruger, 49, has an eyelash of a role as a resistant local farmer, but it’s as resonant as the entire film.* *—Thelma M. Adams*

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Follow the link below to view the trailer:

[Official Trailer](https://youtu.be/XAYwKlm-G1M?si=WP6yUkefoq5X4je7)

All of our events are intended to have a strong social component, something sitting together in a dark theater reading subtitles doesn't provide. So when you get to the theater, just buy your ticket and enter. After these OFS movies, interested movie goers gather at Pacifico's Sushi Mex (on leaving the theater, follow the building to the left). It wouldn't necessarily be my first choice of restaurant, but it does have a Happy Hour and cerveza.

Please enter theater by 3:15 for seating as these films can sell out. Tickets are $9.25 [$8.50 senior].

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