English summary

“An extremely moving portrait, superbly acted by Diane Kruger”

Together with their young son Rocco, German Katja and Turkish Nuri are leading a happy life in Hamburg. When out of the blue father and son become the victims of a bombing, Katja’s life is thrown into turmoil. Distracted by Nuri’s past as a drug dealer, it takes the police some time before they focus on finding the perpetrators. When a young couple with neo-Nazi beliefs is arrested, the case seems to be on track. But then the court issues an unexpected ruling, and the consequences for Katja are huge.

Director Fatih Akin (‘Gegen die Wand’) found inspiration for Aus dem Nichts, in which prejudices and justice are key themes, in the murders committed in Germany by the extreme right and the court case that followed in 2013. The film was chosen as the opening film of the Movies that Matter Festival 2018 and the accolades it has won include the US Golden Globe for the best Motion Picture in the ‘foreign language’ category.

The film is divided into three chapters: “family”, “justice” and “the sea”. Cinematographer Rainer Klausmann uses different cameras and lenses to create a different style for each chapter. Diane Kruger is fantastic as the traumatised Katja and deservedly won the award for best actress at the Cannes Film Festival.