DIRECTOR
Fatih Akin
In the Fade, Soul Kitchen, The Edge of Heaven, Head-On, In July, The Golden Glove

STARS
Jasper Billerbeck, Laura Tonke, Lisa Hagmeister, Kian Köppke, Detlev Buck and Diane Kruger

Based on the childhood memories of co-writer Hark Bohm, Amrum was set to be directed by him until being handed over to long-term friend, award-winning Turkish and German filmmaker Fatih Akin.

Set during the final months of World War II on the German island of Amrum off the North Sea coast, the film centres on 12-year-old Nanning (Jasper Billerbeck), who works on a potato farm on the island to help provide for his heavily pregnant mother, Hille (Laura Tonke). Nanning is yearning for the war to end but the arrival of another group of immigrants who have fled the mainland make that seem a more distant prospect than what it is. Sometime later, when news of Adolf Hitler’s death is announced, Nanning is hopeful his family’s hardship will soon come to an end but is forced to navigate through new and unexpected hardships after Hille gives birth.

At the crux of the film is a valid and thought-provoking point that allows viewers to appreciate the inescapable but unfair nature of the predicament its young protagonist is faced with. Having said that, Amrum repeatedly sends Nanning on assignments to gather provisions and consequently gets bogged down in the mundanities of its story more so than bringing its ultimate meaning to light with the clarity and potency it deserves. To detail this point just a little, Hille is not exactly capable of moving too far after giving birth and requests specific food supplies be brought to her. There is also a sense of urgency to this. Given the war, these items are scarce at best on the island and venturing to the mainland can be a dangerous trek. While it always remains absorbing to follow Nanning’s plight and learn more of the backstory through characters he visits while trying to source the commodities, the writing is more restrained over the key topic than it ought to be and connecting it to everything viewers are watching becomes problematic. 

Amrum is a solid drama from Deutschland that I wish was written and produced with directness to its point and somewhat analytical in exploring it. 

Amrum is showing as part of the HSBC German Film Festival in selected cinemas across Australia from May 8th-27th, 2026.

Moviedoc thanks Miranda Brown Publicity, the HSBC German Film Festival and Palace for the invitation to the screening of this film.

Review by Leigh for Moviedoc

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