Open Air: ACH, DIESE LÜCKE, DIESE ENTSETZLICHE LÜCKE

In his early 20s, Joachim is unexpectedly accepted into the prestigious Otto Falckenberg School of Performing Arts in Munich and moves into his grandparents’ upper-class villa there. His grandmother Inge, a former actress, and his grandfather Hermann, a retired philosophy professor, lead a daily life there filled with bizarre rituals and copious amounts of alcohol. While Joachim struggles at acting school with his own inhibitions, challenging teachers, and exercises that seem absurd, he tries in his private life to come to terms with the accidental death of his brother Philipp. This loss has left a painful void in his life. Torn between the demands of his training and the loving—yet also nostalgic—world of his grandparents, Joachim searches for his place in life and on stage.

Director Simon Verhoeven adapts Joachim Meyerhoff’s autobiographical novel into a tragicomedy in which Bruno Alexander embodies the protagonist’s inner conflict with physical intensity, while Senta Berger and Michael Wittenborn imbue the grandparents with dignity, wit, and fragility. The ensemble is enriched by acting greats such as Karoline Herfurth, Laura Tonke, Devid Striesow, Anne Ratte-Polle, and Tom Schilling, among others.

As part of Cine k’s Open-Air Summer Cinema—July 30 through August 30, 2026. Doors open 45 minutes before the film starts; the film begins at dusk. Weather-proof: no cancellations due to bad weather; the film will be shown indoors instead.