German filmmaker Anne Zohra Berrached is currently shooting Sind so kleine Hände, a biographical drama about East German singer-songwriter Bettina Wegner, whose determination to remain in the GDR and fight for a freer society brought her into conflict with the state.

The film focuses on a short but intense period in Wegner’s life: as many GDR opposition activists leave for West Germany in the late 1970s, she decides to remain in her homeland despite increasing pressure from the authorities. Having already been imprisoned as a young mother, Wegner continues to believe that it is worth fighting to make East Germany a better and freer society. Her status as an undesirable figure in the state, however, places increasing strain on both her personal life and her family.

(El artículo continúa más abajo - Inf. publicitaria)

Mala Emde (Köln 75, Blind at Heart) plays Wegner, taking over the role originally intended for Wanda Perdelwitz, who died in a cycling accident in October 2025, six months before filming was due to begin. The cast also includes Alexander Fehling (Scorched Earth, If Not Us, Who) as writer Klaus Schlesinger, alongside Alina Stiegler (Divided We Stand) as Bine, Ulrich Brandhoff (Django), Anton Spieker, Alina Levshin, Robert Höller, Devid Striesow, Yvon Moltzen, Camille Loup Moltzen, Peter Koch, Michel Johann Koch, Michael Klammer, Moritz Führmann, Selin Dörtkardeş and Stephan Grossmann.

Zohra Berrached directs from a screenplay by Perdelwitz and Martin Behnke, who originally conceived the project. The filmmaker made her feature debut with Two Mothers, which premiered in the Berlinale’s Perspektive Deutsches Kino strand and won both the Dialogue en Perspective Award and the First Steps No Fear Award. Her second feature, 24 Weeks, premiered in competition at the Berlinale and went on to win the Gilde Film Award, while her third feature, Copilot, also premiered in competition at Berlin. Her recent directing credits include episodes of the Tatort crime series and the eight-part drama show A Better Place, which explores the consequences of abolishing prison sentences.

Friede Clausz serves as director of photography, with Jurek Kuttner as production designer, Coline Dubois-Gryspeert as costume designer, Judith Kröher Falch as make-up artist and Denys Darahan as editor, while the composers are Christian “Smörre” Ziegler, Martin Glos and Jasmin Reuter. The film began shooting in Berlin on 22 September and will continue in and around Magdeburg until 7 November, with 19 shooting days scheduled to take place in central Germany, including locations in Marienborn and Hötensleben.

Sind so kleine Hände is being staged by Daniel Perdelwitz and Levin Hübner for Hamburg-based Wüste Film, with Svenja Vanhoefer and Charlene Kilthau producing for Rebelle Film and Johannes Jancke serving as executive producer. ZDF is co-producing, with Daniel Blum as commissioning editor, in collaboration with ARTE, represented by Julius Windhorst and Daniela Muck. The film is supported by Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, the BKM, the German Federal Film Board (FFA), Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, MOIN Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein and the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF). Alamode Verleih will release the movie in German and Austrian cinemas.