Hiddensee

A place of longing, a refuge, a mirror of time... The island of Hiddensee. The new documentary by Annekatrin Hendel (whose works include *The Brasch Family*, *Anderson*, and *Traitor to the Fatherland*) tells stories of the legendary Baltic Sea island from the Golden Twenties to the present day, weaving together politics and personal destinies into a compelling cinematic experience. Now playing at the Tilsiter Lichtspiele.

Hiddensee, a strip of land just 17 kilometers long in the Baltic Sea, is beloved as a place of longing for freedom. Sunbathers, naturists, artists, punks, and celebrities have always flocked to the island in droves. The documentary takes viewers on a journey through an entire century, back to the golden 1920s, when the intellectual avant-garde called this place home—including silent film star Asta Nielsen and Nobel Prize-winning author Gerhart Hauptmann. Then as now, Hiddensee is shaped by the political upheavals unfolding across the entire country. Germany in miniature. Multiple narrative threads, intertwined across time and generations, ultimately lead to the ever-escalating tensions of the present.

In hypnotically beautiful black-and-white images, award-winning director Annekatrin Hendel weaves together landscape, history, and individual destinies into a fascinating portrait, shining a spotlight on movements that extend far beyond the legendary Baltic Sea island. HIDDENSEE is a cinematic experience that is as poetic as it is unsettling, brimming with visual and narrative power.

www.tilsiter-lichtspiele.de/hiddensee