Das KoKi zeigt: Karla

Bavaria 1962: father, mother and three children sit in their car, a nice family outing in an ideal world, or so it seems. But during a toilet stop in the countryside, 12-year-old Karla (Elise Krieps) runs away. She runs across meadows and fields, makes her way to the nearest police station and presses charges - against her father. It's not her first attempt. She has been reading up in the library. About laws and paragraphs for "lewd acts" or about "the right to life". She asks Judge Lamy (Rainer Bock), who is called in late at night, whether this is also a right to a good life and whether it also applies to children. But she cannot and will not describe the course of events. Karla is initially placed in a convent girls' home. The fact that she feels more comfortable with the strict nuns than at home with her family is all the more reason for the judge to believe her. A grumpy guy, this Judge Lamy; at least he can listen and he takes Karla seriously. And then there's the seemingly hopeless trial, in which the girl's testimony is pitted against that of her mother (Katharina Schüttler) as a witness and that of her father (Torben Liebrecht), the defendant. Director Christina Tournatzes tells this true story from 1962 sensitively and movingly, in short and intense dialogs and with poetic excursions into Karla's fantasy world, into which she repeatedly escapes. A quiet strength fills the traumatized 12-year-old between helpless silence and her irrepressible will for justice and a life without abuse. A quiet film that gets under your skin and at the same time builds up tremendous tension.

Germany 2025, Director: Christina Tournatzes, Actors: Elise Krieps, Rainer Bock, Katharina Schüttler, Torben Liebrecht, no age rating, 104 min