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German-Turkish filmmaker Fatih Akin (“Head-On,” “The Edge of Heaven,” “In the Fade”) returns with “Amrum,” a drama set in the last days of World War II that was also a favorite out of competition at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.
The director reunites with Diane Kruger, whom he directed to a Cannes Best Actress win in 2017 for the brilliant neo-Nazi neo-noir “In the Fade.” Here, Kruger plays the neighboring farmer to a 12-year-old boy (newcomer Jasper Ole Billerbeck, found in an open casting call) who forages and hunts for ingredients for sustenance. Meanwhile, his own mother (Laura Tonke) is a Nazi apologist who’s also in advanced stages of pregnancy. This coming-of-age tale was deeply acclaimed out of Cannes. Below, IndieWire debuts the exclusive trailer ahead of the film’s upcoming release.
More on the film from Kino Lorber’s synopsis here: “A tender coming-of-age tale about the loss of innocence in the waning days of WWII: it is the Spring of 1945 on the German island of Amrum, where 12-year-old Nanning spends his days working the farm and his nights fishing. Despite the hardship, life on the windswept isle seems idyllic. When farmer Tessa (Diane Kruger) mentions to Nanning that the war will soon be over, the boy — too young to understand the political implications — is pleased to imagine that his Nazi officer father might soon be coming home. But word of Germany’s imminent defeat sends his mother into decline, and as Nanning looks to his community for support, he learns that the true enemy is far closer than he imagined.”
Here’s what IndieWire’s Anne Thompson had to say about the film back at Cannes: “‘Amrum’ marks a dramatic turn for Akin. He adapted a screenplay by Hark Bohm, and then took on directing this late-days World War II story set on scenic Amrum Island in Spring 1945. Akin adopted a more classical style for this period film, casting 12-year-old Jasper Billerbeck for his lead from an open casting call and audition tape. Billerbeck carries the movie as Nanning, who doggedly hunts, fishes, and forages in order to feed his family and find the ingredients to make his mother (a Nazi sympathizer) a cake with honey. Diane Kruger plays a resistance farmer who hires him to dig potatoes… Its Nazi subject matter could turn off some distributors, but its message is loud and clear.”
“Amrum” opens starting April 17 at the Quad Cinema in New York City and on April 24 at the Laemmle Royal in Los Angeles. Watch the trailer below. The film’s distributor Kino Lorber recently backed 2026 Best Documentary Feature Oscar winner “Mr. Nobody Against Putin.”
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