“With love, your Hilde”
Dresen’s film about the resistance fighter Hilde Coppi
Andreas Dresen’s new film “In Love, Your Hilde” is in competition at the Berlinale. photo
© Michael Bahlo/dpa
The Berlinale film by Andreas Dresen tells the tragic story of the young Hilde Coppi in the resistance against the Nazi regime. The filmmaker also sees her biography as an example of living a decent life.
His film “In Love, Your Hilde” is in the running for the Golden Bear at the Berlinale. He would like “that people who vote for certain parties would also watch the film and think again.” His film also talks about “where a society can slip if you’re not careful.”
In Dresen’s film, actress Liv Lisa Fries (“Babylon Berlin”) stars as Hilde Coppi, who is a member of the Rote Kapelle resistance group during World War II. She goes to prison as a pregnant woman and gives birth to her son there. The film, which was shot in Berlin and Brandenburg, also tells the tragic love story of Hilde and Hans Coppi during the Nazi era. Filming locations in Brandenburg include the Lindenstrasse memorial in Potsdam and a lake in Groß Köris (Dahme-Spreewald district).
According to Dresen, the film is not intended to glorify resistance fighters and portray them as heroes. “What really touched me was the story of a woman who is so quietly decent,” said the director, who lives in Potsdam. “For me, what was exciting was that someone didn’t march forward with a raised fist and represent an ideology, but instead quietly did the right thing. You can take people like that as an example of how to live a decent life.”
The Berlinale begins on February 15th and is one of the largest film festivals alongside Cannes and Venice. The Potsdam Film Museum is currently showing a show about director Dresen’s life’s work (“Gundermann”, “Summer in Front of the Balcony”, “Willenbrock”, “Half Staircase”) under the title “Full of Life! Andreas Dresen and Team”.