The Murderers are Among Us

Friday, 06 February 2015: The Murderers are Among Us

Friday, 06 February 2015, 20:00

Venue: (see Locations and Tickets for further details)

Programme category: Forest Row Film Society

Director: Wofgang Staudte, Germany 1948, 87 mins, Not Rated

"Filmed in 1946 amid the ruins of the former Soviet-controlled East Germany, The Murderers are Among Us is a compassionate portrait of hope, resilience, and personal atonement." Strictly Film School

"A serious film concerned with the knotty problem of the individual German’s guilt for Nazism…Superb camera and montage technique" – Variety

Berlin 1945. Back from the war, two people find themselves stranded in a flat in the midst of devastation trying to cope with their experiences as a war surgeon and concentration camp survivor. Guilt and the possibility of hope for the future are the big issues of this first German post war feature drama. Made on location in Berlin with Hildegard Knef in one of her first roles.

"The Murderers Are Among Us sets important precedents that will help shape the course of DEFA up until the state was abolished in 1990. There is an honesty and a commitment to artistic expression that the west wouldn’t rediscover for a decade. Later on, these same characteristics would put many East German filmmakers in direct confrontation with the GDR officials." Eastgermancinema