Barbara

“With Barbara, Christian Petzold earns his stripes among Europe’s greatest filmmakers.”—Little White Lies

“Tough and tender, it’s the best Iron Curtain drama since The Lives of Others.”—Empire Magazine

The German candidate for the Academy Awards’ Best Foreign Language Film, Barbara is a masterfully controlled and absorbing Cold War drama. 

Set in 1980, the latest film from the acclaimed German director Christian Petzold centers around a doctor—played by the incomparable Nina Hoss—who is transferred from her prestigious post in East Berlin to a small pediatric hospital in the country as punishment for applying for an exit visa from East Germany. Planning to flee for Denmark with her boyfriend, Barbara remains icy and withdrawn around her colleagues, particularly with the lead physician, who is hiding a secret of his own. With her patients, however, the guarded doctor is kind, warm, and protective, even risking her own safety for one of her charges. The winner of the Silver Bear for Best Director at this year’s Berlin Film Festival,Barbara expertly details the costs of telling and withholding the truth. (105 mins., DCP)