Directed by:
Oskar RoehlerScreenplay:
Oskar RoehlerComposer:
Martin TodsharowCast:
Moritz Bleibtreu, Jürgen Vogel, Erika Marozsán, Kostja Ullmann, Lavinia Wilson, Sonja Kirchberger, Lisa Smit, Meret Becker, Wilson Gonzalez Ochsenknecht (more)Plots(1)
Germany, the late 1940s. Erich Freytag returns from captivity in Russia to a lukewarm reception from his family. Life goes on: after Erich’s son Klaus discovers he has a knack for writing, he starts his own family with the rich, talented Gisela. They have a son but many doubt their love for the child. Years go by, with Robert shuffled back and forth between an indifferent father, and his grandparents’ homes. As the boy grows up, he tries to find out who he really is. Oskar Roehler, considered one of the bad boys of German film, here revisits the theme of his roots – which he has dealt with before – first in his novel Origin (Herkunft, 2011) and now in its film adaptation. From the atmosphere of postwar Germany and the economic miracle – which included everything from garden gnomes and intellectual revolt to punk and West Berlin – to the beginning of the 1980s, the author employs characteristic volatility in presenting three generations of his family set against the backdrop of his country’s history. In the occasionally halting flow of his narrative, with its bitterly critical tone, a romantic sensitivity shines through that sometimes borders on a justifiable sentimentality. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)
(more)Cast
![Moritz Bleibtreu](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/168/790/168790957_jgs7rf.jpg)
Moritz Bleibtreu
West Germany
Best movies:
Knockin' on Heaven's Door (1997)
The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008)
Time You Change (2010)
![Jürgen Vogel](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/168/790/168790903_lewix1.jpg)
Jürgen Vogel
West Germany
Best movies:
The Wave (2008)
Life Is All You Get (1997)
Die Kirschenkönigin (2004) (series)
![Erika Marozsán](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/063/160063006_c924ba.jpg)
Erika Marozsán
Hungary
Best movies:
Gloomy Sunday (1999)
The Company (2007) (series)
Sources of Life (2013)
![Kostja Ullmann](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/274/274192_ca9e1e.jpg)
Kostja Ullmann
West Germany
Best movies:
The Hippocratic Silence (2022)
Sources of Life (2013)
My Blind Date with Life (2017)
![Lavinia Wilson](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/168/999/168999028_2y6pz0.jpg)
Lavinia Wilson
West Germany
Best movies:
The Billion Dollar Code (2021) (series)
Sources of Life (2013)
What We Wanted (2020)
![Sonja Kirchberger](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/161/216/161216596_24b771.jpg)
Sonja Kirchberger
Austria
Best movies:
Sources of Life (2013)
Klassentreffen 1.0 - Die unglaubliche Reise der Silberrücken (2018)
Neues vom Wixxer (2007)
Lisa Smit
Netherlands
Best movies:
Sources of Life (2013)
Nothing to Lose (2008)
Zomer (2014)
![Meret Becker](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/158/139/158139977_07e5f2.jpg)
Meret Becker
West Germany
Best movies:
Comedian Harmonists (1997)
Life Is All You Get (1997)
Munich (2005)
![Wilson Gonzalez Ochsenknecht](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/280/280855_f36e78.jpg)
Wilson Gonzalez Ochsenknecht
West Germany
Best movies:
Habermann's Mill (2010)
Sources of Life (2013)
Clark (2022) (series)
![Thomas Heinze](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/168/843/168843375_jgws1b.jpg)
Thomas Heinze
West Germany
Best movies:
Voyager (1991)
Sources of Life (2013)
Dream Factory (2019)
![Steffen Wink](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/305/159305995_5cc666.jpg)
Steffen Wink
West Germany
Best movies:
Les Misérables (2000) (series)
Barefoot (2005)
Sources of Life (2013)
![Karoline Teska](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/055/126/55126091_057b70.jpg)
Karoline Teska
East Germany
Best movies:
The Wave (2008)
Sources of Life (2013)
The Girl with Nine Wigs (2013)
![Michael Rast](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/168/058/168058905_24hupe.jpg)
Michael Rast
Austria
Best movies:
Before the Fall (2004)
Sources of Life (2013)
Bride of the Wind (2001)
![Margarita Broich](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/158/245/158245536_e539f3.jpg)
Margarita Broich
West Germany
Best movies:
The Reader (2008)
Das Tagebuch der Anne Frank (2016)
Sources of Life (2013)
![Leonard Scheicher](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/161/953/161953026_5a7c69.jpg)
Leonard Scheicher
Germany
Best movies:
The Billion Dollar Code (2021) (series)
The Silent Revolution (2018)
Sources of Life (2013)
![Martin Horn](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/158/597/158597064_648458.jpg)
Martin Horn
West Germany
Best movies:
Sources of Life (2013)
Operation Valkyrie (2004) (TV movie)
The Miracle of Bern (2003)
![Thomas Kügel](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/145/160145010_4d6e3f.jpg)
Thomas Kügel
West Germany
Best movies:
Cloud Atlas (2012)
Sources of Life (2013)
Spur der Hoffnung (2006) (TV movie)
![Uwe Dag Berlin](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/166/771/166771385_8aff33.jpg)
Uwe Dag Berlin
East Germany
Best movies:
Nothing Bad Can Happen (2013)
Sources of Life (2013)
Sun Alley (1999)
Ulrike Hanke-Haensch
Best movies:
Sources of Life (2013)
Polizeiruf 110 (1971) (series)
The Samurai (2014)
![Jürgen Rißmann](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/555/159555636_6423a9.jpg)
Jürgen Rißmann
West Germany
Best movies:
In the Name of the Father (1993)
Barefoot (2005)
Sources of Life (2013)