German filmmaker Christian Petzold started shooting “Afire” in Germany last July. A trailer has just been released for Petzold’s highly-anticipated film.
In a few days, “Afire” will be having its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. His cinematic muse, actress Paula Beer, leads the cast of actors, which include Enno Trebs, Thomas Schubert, Jonas Dassler, and Langston Uibel. Here’s the official synopsis:
A hot, dry summer, like so many in recent years. Forest fires are uncontrollable. Four young people meet in a holiday home on the Baltic Sea not far from Ahrenshoop. Slowly and imperceptibly they are enclosed by the walls of flame. A red sky arches over them. They doubt, they are afraid––not because of the fires. It is love that scares them: “Who dies when they love…!” They get closer, they desire, they love. Then there are the flames.
Petzold is the acclaimed director behind “Phoenix,” “Transit” and “Barbara.” I don’t think he’s ever done Cannes before, at least not to my knowledge. He’s very much a Berlinale name and it’s no big surprise that “Afire” is world premiering again on his home turf.