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TRIAL OF HEIN (DER HEIMATLOSE)

TRIAL OF HEIN (DER HEIMATLOSE)

KAI STÄNICKE | GERMANY | 2026 | 122 MIN | GERMAN EST

KAI STÄNICKE | GERMANY | 2026 | 122 MIN | GERMAN EST

IN-CINEMAFeatureFIRST FILMS

Subtitles: English

NOV 21 / 16:45Cinéma JA de Sève (LB-125) | Concordia University 1400 Boul. de Maisonneuve O. Montréal, QC H3G 1M8 (métro Guy-Concordia)

Synopsis

14 years later, Hein returns to a wind-scraped island in the North Sea. Its eerie, Brechtian settlement of half-built houses guarded by a community prone to paranoia. Hein plunged into a dark scheme to prove his identity and the true nature of a once great love. Though he once called the tiny island home, Hein (Paul Boche) is unrecognizable even to his closest confidants, Greta (Emilia Schüle) and the forlorn Friedemann (Philip Froissant). Is Hein as devious as the villagers imply? Or is their ignorance some slippery plot hatched against him? Armed with a locket meant to unseal his relationship with Friedemann, Hein is determined to be taken for who he says he is and to allow others this same grace. His insistence leading to a trial presided over by an imperious leader (Julika Jenkins), the community’s goodwill dependent on its outcome. A trial where competing memories are judged, and Hein and Friedemann are compelled to remaster their childhood game of “Lies.” Writer-director Kai Stänicke’s tense psychodrama is an engaging allegory of how conformity shuns queerness in all its forms, and how one must insist fiercely on one’s own dignity.

Trailer

Filmmaker Bio

After studying Film and training at X Filme Creative Pool, Kai Stänicke worked as an assistant director before moving into his own projects. His shorts won recognition from Saatchi & Saatchi, Berlinale Talents and Nespresso Talents, and his debut feature Trial of Hein received support from Berlinale's Script Station and the Wolfgang Kohlhaase Scholarship.

Director's Statement

Trial of Hein is an intimate exploration of identity and belonging. Who hasn't looked back at an earlier version of themselves and been surprised by how much has changed? Going back home forces us to confront the person we used to be. At its core, the film captures that fragile moment when you stop pretending to be who you once were, even if doing so turns you into a stranger to those who thought they knew you.

Producer

Andrea Schütte, Dirk Decker, Dario Suter

Writer

Kai Stänicke

Cast

  • Paul Boche
  • Philip Froissant
  • Emilia Schüle
  • Stephanie Amarell
  • Aaron Hilmer
  • Irene Kleinschmidt
  • Jeanette Hain
  • Julika Jenkins
  • Sebastian Blomberg
  • Margarita Broich
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