Winner of Best Director at the Berlin Film Festival.

In the paranoiac nightmare of East Germany, 1980, Barbara - a physician from Berlin - has been sent to a small country town as punishment for some unknown crime against the state. Tormented by the Stasi, she dreams of escape to the West but finds herself being drawn inexorably, disastrously into a relationship with a fellow doctor.

Subtly drawn and impeccably acted, Barbara is the assured new offering from German master Christian Petzold (Yella, MIFF 07). A film of glancing moments and dangerous secrets, Barbara paints a haunting picture of a young woman being slowly crushed between the irreconcilable needs of desire and survival.

“Wise and incisively crafted... brings simmering intelligence and a dry, sardonic compassion to bear on its tale of two doctors slowly worming their way into each other's hearts and minds.” - Variety

D/S Christian Petzold P Florian Koerner von Gustorf, Michael Weber Dist Madman Entertainment L German w/English subtitles TD DCP/2012