Project Detail

Alone in Berlin

Synopsis

Berlin 1940. The city is paralyzed by fear. Otto and Anna Quangel are a working class couple living in a shabby apartment block trying, like everyone else, to stay out of trouble under Nazi rule. But when their only child is killed fighting at the front, their loss drives them to an extraordinary act of resistance. They start to drop anonymous postcards all over the city attacking Hitler and his regime. If caught, it means certain execution. Soon their campaign comes to the attention of the Gestapo inspector Escherich and a murderous game of cat-and-mouse begins. But the game serves only to strengthen Otto and Anna’s sense of purpose and a renewed love for each other. Slowly their drab lives and marriage are transformed as they unite in their quiet but profound rebellion...
Over 60 years after its initial publication, Hans Fallada’s novel, written directly after the Second World War, became a worldwide bestseller. Based on a true story, the powerful and redemptive novel was described by Primo Levi as “the greatest book ever written about German resistance to the Nazis.”
Berlinale 2016 - World premiere

Details

Year
2016
Type of project
Features
Running time
97 mins
Director
Vincent Perez
Producer
Stefan Arndt, Christian Grass, Marco Pacchioni, James Schamus, Uwe Schott, Paul Trijbits
Co-Producer
Christian Grass
Executive Producer
Michael Scheel, Lisa Wolofsky
Editor
François Gédigier
Screenwriter
Achim von Borries (screenplay), Bettine von Borries (writer), Vincent Perez (writer), Hans Fallada (novel)
Director of Photography
Christophe Beaucarne
Production Designer
Jean-Vincent Puzos
Sound
Lee Herrick
Composer
Alexandre Desplat
Principal cast
Brendan Gleeson, Emma Thompson, Daniel Brühl, Mikael Persbrandt

Genre

Categories

Production Status

Production Company

Germany, UK, France coproduction

X-Filme Creative Pool (DE), FilmWave (UK), Master Movies (FR)

FilmWave

Christian Grass
4th Floor
27 Margaret Street
London
W1W 8RY

Sales Company

Page updates

This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

See also

You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.

 Ringing the Changes Ringing the Changes

Director: Felix Dembinski

Year:

A honeymoon turns into a night of terror when the newlyweds learn that ringing church bells herald an annual ritual to raise the dead.

A woman with spirals in her hair leans on a man's chest. Eneval

Director: Katie Burdon

Year:

Mary and Scott entwine themselves during a woodland rave

A woman illuminated by light looks up into the camera. The Nice Ones

Director: Peter Stylianou

Year: 2026

When Kate joins her boyfriend’s friends at a remote countryside retreat, strange lights appear in the sky. As tensions rise, something unseen begins turning the group into eerily “nice” versions of themselves, hiding a darker truth.