Nominated, European Discovery – Prix Fipresci, European Film AwardsA grown-up man, Lothar (André Hennicke), discovers that his estranged teenage daughter has gone missing. Looking more closely, he realises that many children are disappearing – as if some wave or mysterious force has taken hold of children of all ages. Lothar befriends young Lou (Luzie Ahrens) and together they are drawn further and deeper into the inexplicable, dangerous movement that has taken hold of the country, travelling through dark forests and abandoned villages.
Evoking the tale of The Pied Piper, director Jan Speckenbach traces the gap that has opened between generations with imagination and childlike wonderment. But unlike the old fairy tale, this film’s Ratcatcher is a child himself – or perhaps, many children at once. And scratch the surface and you will also find an eerie relevance to recent events: the youth riots in the UK, the earlier Paris uprising, Cairo’s revolution...
Cambridge Film Festival