DIRECTOR/SCREENPLAY: Sonja Kröner 
PRODUCERS: Tobias Walker, Philipp Worm
PHOTOGRAPHY: Julia Daschner
EDITOR: Ulrike Tortora
PRODUCTION DESIGNER: Conrad Reinhardt
COSTUME DESIGNER: Andy Besuch
MUSIC: Sebastian Fillenberg
WITH: Katja Brenner (Brigitte Schauer), Jonathan Bähr (Frank), Peter Clös (Flachs), Günther Maria Halmer (Erich), Grischa Huber (Frau Fischer), Mavie Hörbiger (Gitti), Thomas Loibl (Bernd)

REVIEW

“Suffused with sun-dappled bodies and the hubbub of summer activity, the debut feature by German writer-director Sonja Maria Kroner is an enchanting slow burn. Unfolding in 1970s Bavarian cottage country, The Garden tells the story of an extended family of adults and children gathering to commemorate a deceased matriarch and to laze away their holidays. Though brimming with incident, this is above all a masterfully rendered mood piece about tine and, family, innocence and hazard.
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The very day she is laid to rest, Sofia’s favourite tree is struck by lightning... As her children and grandchildren whisper amongst themselves about their property concerns over a game of cards or an afternoon cocktail Sofia’s great-grandchildren frolic in the woods… Somewhere in the vicinity a child murderer is on the loose yet this terrible threat never quite eclipses other concerns, including long-brewing resentments, new-found childhood rivalries, absent fathers and unexpected flirtations.

The Garden is unassuming and utterly transporting. You can feel its warmth – and its creeping sense of impending change. You will leave this film with no doubt that Kröner is a vital new voice in German cinema.”

— Kerri Craddock, Toronto International Film Festival

FILM SOCIETY SCREENINGS*

Wellington     
Monday 7 September, 6.15pm

Palmerston North     
Monday 14 September, 6.00pm

Auckland   (suspended)  
Monday 21 September, 6.30pm

New Plymouth     
Wednesday 30 September, 6.00pm

Whanganui     
Monday 5 October, 7.00pm

Westport     
Wednesday 14 October

Dunedin     
Wednesday 21 October, 7.30pm
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​*Non-members welcome by donation (notes only please)​
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German Cinema selection presented in co-operation with the Goethe Institut