Filmclub "Hiddensee"

Hiddensee, a strip of land just 17 kilometres long in the Baltic Sea, has long been cherished as a place of freedom and longing. Sunseekers, nudists, artists, punks and celebrities have flocked to the island for generations. The documentary journeys through an entire century, going back to the golden 1920s, when Hiddensee was home to the intellectual avant-garde, including silent-film star Asta Nielsen and Nobel Prize-winning author Gerhart Hauptmann. Then as now, the island reflects the political upheavals unfolding across the country – Germany in miniature. Several interwoven narratives spanning different eras and generations ultimately lead to the ever-intensifying tensions of the present day.

In hypnotically beautiful black-and-white images, award-winning director Annekatrin Hendel weaves together landscape, history and individual destinies to create a fascinating portrait. Like looking through a magnifying glass, she reveals developments that extend far beyond the legendary Baltic island itself. HIDDENSEE is a cinematic experience that is both poetic and unsettling, filled with remarkable visual and narrative power.