From Hilde, With Love (MA 15+)

Featuring a captivating central performance from Babylon Berlin star Liv Lisa Fries, the hugely affecting new historical drama from multi award-winning director Andreas Dresen depicts the remarkable true story of a young German woman drawn into the anti-Nazi resistance movement during World War II.

Berlin, 1942. When the shy, heavily-pregnant Hilde Coppi is suddenly detained by the Gestapo, she pleads ignorance to their accusations that she has aided her lover, Hans, in transcribing coded radio transmissions to and from Moscow. However, it appears there’s more evidence against Hilde than she anticipated, given Hans and many of the other activists involved in their group – who will become known as Die Rote Kapelle ('The Red Orchestra') – have also been arrested.

Compelled to give birth in custody, Hilde is informed that her child may be taken from her, but her kindness and quiet resolve wins over a prison nurse, enabling mother and son to remain together. As Hilde awaits her sentencing, she reminisces about her involvement with Hans and their joyful romance, the most beautiful summer of her life…

Anchored by the extraordinary Fries, who perfectly embodies a type of everyday heroine driven only by decency and what’s in her heart, Dresen’s compelling and humanistic film echoes the themes and impact of The Lives Of Others, as a war drama that – without depicting a single bullet being fired - speaks more eloquently about courage than many battle-heavy spectacles. From Hilde, With Love is a deeply moving and inspiring achievement.

Cast: Alexander Scheer, Emma Bading, Liv Lisa Fries, Lisa Wagner, Johannes Hegemann, Lisa Hrdina, Fritzi Haberlandt

Director: Andreas Dresen

"Liv Lisa Fries delivers a performance of joy and resilience. A fascinating, very moving and sobering reminder of recent world history. Go see it" ABC RADIO NATIONAL

"Top drawer humanist cinema. Lush, evocative and affecting" HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

"A powerhouse biopic that builds up to a dramatic, moving crescendo. The story of the German resistance to the Nazi regime has been told before in books, documentaries and fictional features, but rarely so freshly and movingly." SCREEN INTERNATIONAL

"Moving and compelling. Though set almost 80 years ago, the themes explored seem destined to remain eternally urgent and relevant." VARIETY

★★★★½ "Intimately close, brilliantly delivered. It felt like I was peering into the inner world of Hilde and Hans, their dreams, hopes, ideals and emotions" GLAMADELAIDE