Coming Soon: Requiem

DIRECTED BY: Hans-Christian Schmid

FILM FESTIVALS:
Toronto International Film Festival 2006
Berlin International Film Festival Official Competition 2006
Seattle International Film Festival 2006

AWARDS:
Silver Bear - (Sandra Hueller) 2006
FIPRESCI International Critics Prize 2006
5 Lolas - German Film Awards 2006
Bavarian Film Awards - Best Actress 2006

RUNNING TIME: 89 minutes
RATING: Not Rated
MISC: German with English Subtitles - Color

Michaela has grown up in a deeply religious family, in a small town in Germany, in the 1970's. Despite her long battle with epilepsy, she leaves home and secures her first taste of freedom while studying at the university. Her budding love for Stefan and her friendship with Hanna crack open the shell of faith and family within which she had always felt secure and protected. The result is a breakdown. Not a normal epileptic attack, but a frightening rush of grotesque faces and voices. Afraid of being sent back home to her family, Michaela seeks help from a priest who reinforces her conviction that she is possessed. Though Stefan and Hanna beg her to seek psychiatric help, they are unable to break through the dense religious and moral ties binding Michaela to her family. They have no choice but to leave her to her fate. The harrowing events portrayed are based on a true story which also inspired the US film, THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE.