Phoenix

The action unfolds in the immediate aftermath of World War II, when Berlin is under occupation and reconstruction begins. Survivors carry memories of the camps, and the boundary between past and present becomes permeable as they reinvent themselves. The era is defined by upheaval, fragile political changes, and the search for safety and identity.

Set in the immediate postwar period, Berlin is scarred by bombed streets, rubble, and occupation. The story moves through ruined neighborhoods and signs of reconstruction as survivors seek new futures. The possibility of relocation to Palestine frames the characters' hopes and decisions amid moral ambiguity.

🪞 Identity

Identity is unstable as Nelly reclaims a face and a life she once lost. She agrees to impersonate her husband's deceased wife, blurring lines between truth and performance. Her sense of self becomes tangled with memory, moral choice, and the pull of love. The film probes whether a person can ever truly return to who they were.

💔 Guilt

Guilt and complicity shadow the characters: the hints of betrayal by Johnny, Lene's suicide after learning the truth, and Nelly's decision to conceal her real identity. The story asks whether survival justifies deception or if truth inevitably surfaces. The emotional tension culminates in pivotal confrontations that test loyalties.

🌆 Rebuilding

Berlin's postwar landscape provides a backdrop for moral and physical reconstruction. The plan to move to Palestine adds a political dimension to personal choices. The city becomes both a ruins-filled memory and a place of fragile renewal, where memory, identity, and hope must be rebuilt together.