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A moody film version of the Brothers Grimm fairytale that stays completely faithful to the original. Generations of children have come to love this morality tale about a brother and sister abandoned in the forest and held captive by a creepy woman who lives in a house made of gingerbread and sweets. Using atmospheric music and hypnotic visuals, the many qualities of this piece are brought into full-colour, live-action glory that showcases the children's ingenuity in a cruel and frightening world. Filmmaker Anne Wild opted against modernising this enduring classic so to honour its themes of fear, the subconscious and archetypes - after all, “that is the interesting thing about fairytales”. Screened at last year's Berlin Film Festival. MIFF recommends: Age 8 - 12. Mild frightening scenes.

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D Anne Wild P Ingelore König, Ernst Geyer, Jürgen Haase S Peter Schwindt WS Telepool GmbH L German w/English subtitles TD 35mm/2006/76mins