The Day I Was Not Born is one of those quiet movies that comes out of nowhere and leaves you breathless. The story of a young German woman who discovers that she was adopted by the people she thought were her birth parents, this devastating, masterfully calibrated film marks a stellar directorial debut from Florian Cossen.
The film opens as Maria (rising German star Jessica Schwarz), a 30-year-old competitive swimmer, says goodbye to her father (Michael Gwisdek) before boarding a plane for Argentina. The event that sets the film in motion comes when Maria is in Buenos Aires airport and overhears a woman singing a Spanish lullaby. In an extraordinary, shivery moment, Cossen films his leading lady up close as she mouths the words, a mix of horror and wonder playing out across her face as she seems to remember a song she doesn’t consciously know.
The film chronicles the fragmentation of Maria’s identity upon learning of her adoption, and the reconstruction of an identity as she tracks down blood relatives in Argentina. The Day I Was Not Born examines hefty themes – betrayal, family, forgiveness – without making a wrong step. And it signals the arrival of what could be a major new voice in European cinema. - John Frosch, Associated Press
Presented in co-operation with the Goethe-Institut Irland
Winner, Best Film, Santiago de Chile International Film Festival