A Land Within
Once a month, the Goethe-Institut collaborates with the Cinémathèque québécoise to present a significant work of contemporary German cinema: fiction films, documentaries, bold and entertaining productions by established and emerging filmmakers.
Canadian Premiere
In the presence of the filmmaker
South Tyrol, 1961. The northern Italian region with a German-speaking minority is shaken by a series of separatist bomb attacks. Free spirit Paul wants to escape the narrowness and lack of prospects of his little village and study painting in Munich. When his hardliner brother, Anton, becomes a fugitive terrorist, Paul reluctantly puts his own plans on hold to support his brother’s wife, Anna, and their little son on the small farm. As ethnic tensions and police repression in the village grow, Paul gets drawn into a downward spiral of violence and toxic masculinity. Anna openly condemns the radicalization of her husband but increasingly clashes with the patriarchal structures of the time. When events spin out of control, Paul must choose between following his dream and standing up against violence and his brother.
The film will also be presented with French subtitles.
Michael Kofler
Michael Kofler grew up in rural South Tyrol in the Italian Alps. He studied Directing in London, where he also worked for several years at a leading Film & TV production company. His short films and video works have been screened at various international film festivals. His screenplay for his debut feature film, A Land Within (2025), won the top award of Racconti Development Lab by IDM Film Commission. He is an alumnus of the Berlinale Talents, the talent development programme of the Berlinale.
Bio: Courtesy of Geothe-Institut Montréal
Photo: Taylan Mutafoglu, Courtesy of Geothe-Institut Montréal
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