Rose

In the early 17th century, a soldier arrives in a remote German village to claim the run-down estate he has supposedly inherited. Despite his distinctively scarred face, the soft-spoken young man is otherwise delicate in appearance. The locals are initially skeptical of him, but his hard work and discipline win them over – until, that is, he is expected to have a child with the daughter of one of the villagers, and his carefully constructed identity threatens to be exposed. Markus Schleinzer follows up Michael and Angelo with another meticulously sketched, painful psychological portrait of an individual facing the pressures of majority society. For her dazzling portrayal of Rose, who can only be free when putting on a pair of breeches, Sandra Hüller was awarded the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance at this year’s Berlinale.