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SHIFTING THE BLAME

SCHULD SIND IMMER DIE ANDEREN

By Lars-Gunnar LOTZ

FFL FILM- UND FERNSEH-LABOR - as PROD

Drama - Completed 2013

Ben is given the unique chance of a new beginning in the idyllic „Waldhaus“. As one
of seven juvenile offenders he should adopt social skills and experience security in a
family-like community. But when he meets his housemother Eva he is shocked: She
is one of his victims.

Festivals
& Awards

Studio Hamburg Talent Award 2012

Best Director

Filmfest Emden-Norderney 2012

Bernhard Wickie Award

Filmfest Emden-Nordeney 2012

NDR Young Directors Award

Filmfest Emden-Norderney 2012

DGB Trade Union Award

Festival of German Films Ludwigshafen 2012

Audience Award

Sao Paulo IFF 2012

Best Actor

Biberach Film Festival 2012

Biber Student Award

Film Festival Cottbus 2012

Best Youth Film

See all

- Year of production
- 2013
- Genres
- Drama
- Countries
- GERMANY
- Languages
- GERMAN
- Budget
- 0.6 - 1 M$
- Duration
- 93 mn
- Director(s)
- Lars-Gunnar LOTZ
- Writer(s)
- Anna PRASSLER
- Cast
- Edin HASANOVIC, Julia BRENDLER, Marc-Ben PUCH, Pit BUKOWSKI
- Producer(s)
- Matthias DRESCHER (FFL FILM- UND FERNSEH-LABOR), Philipp KNAUSS (FFL FILM- UND FERNSEH-LABOR)
- Synopsis
- Ben has gone down the wrong path. He repeatedly attacks people, robs them and doesnʼt
  stop at physical violence. His deeds soon bear consequences: Ben lands in juvenile prison.
  But he shows no remorse.
  Social worker Niklas offers him the chance of a fresh start. Ben must prove himself outside
  the prison walls. He turns the offer down fiercely, but then consents.
  Ben becomes the freshman in the „Waldhaus“. There are neither fences nor walls, but a
  strict daily routine, never ending rules and evaluations that enable a rise in hierarchy. His
  roommate Tobi is assigned to help him with this, who teaches and subsequently supervises
  him. Ben rebels in the familiar community, disregards rules and stirs up the group. When
  one member of the group is sent back to prison after an aggressive outbreak, Ben realises
  that he has to watch out. He definitely doesn't want to return to prison.
  Ben begins to engage in the project, meets intern Mariana and enters the community step
  by step. But when Niklas' wife Eva returns from a retreat, he is shocked. She is a former
  victim of his assaults, the one that was never resolved. A game of hide and seek starts for
  him, where he is permanently on the edge of being found out by Eva. For Eva, every day
  becomes a harder challenge. The more she tries to forget the past, the more she is
  overwhelmed by it. Niklas' worry for his wife grows and Ben fights to keep his secret safe.
  He learns how troublesome the consequences of his assault are for Eva. This change
  catches Tobi's attention and he grows suspicious. But he remains silent and covers for Ben.
  But then Eva's suspicion is aroused. When this is confirmed, Ben's situation seems
  hopeless. For him as for Eva, a world falls apart. Ben experiences the pain of guilt for the
  first time, a conscience, and Eva feels the weakness of a victim that wants to forgive but
  cannot. What she held to be true suddenly loses its value. That they live together evolves
  into a crucial test and nobody knows, how it will end.

SHIFTING THE BLAME

SCHULD SIND IMMER DIE ANDEREN

Festivals& Awards

Festivals
& Awards