Foreign Language

• Claire Burger
• 105 min
• France, Germany, Belgium
• 2024
• Fiction

Cannes winner Claire Burger blends politics, family, love, and young activism in a tender film about two odd teen girls who neet in a French-German exchange program.

When Fanny travels to Germany to visit her more confident pen pal Lena, the reception is cold. But it doesn’t take long before the two, both feeling like outsiders and dealing with family troubles, grow closer than expected. However, when Lena makes the corresponding trip back to France, a web of painful lies unravels, and everything is put to the test. Claire Burger (Party Girl GFF 2015, Real Love GFF 2019) continues – sometimes humorously – to explore the Franco-German dynamic, accurately portraying political and sexual awakening, as well as a young generation's alienation and anxiety about the future. The remarkable lead performances (Lilith Grasmug, Josefa Heinsius!) are supported by Nina Hoss (Tár) and Chiara Mastroianni (also appearing at the festival in Marcello Mio) as their lost mothers.

- Camilla Larsson

• Drama
• Motstånd
• Samhälle
• Familj
• HBTQ
• Politik