Synopsis

World War II is almost over. 9-year-old Christl lives with her family in a flat in Hernals, a district of Vienna. After an aerial bomb destroys half of her house, her mother and the two girls move into the abandoned villa of a Nazi-loyal family on the outskirts. The grandparents are left behind alone. Christl quickly gets used to her new life. Curiously and fearlessly, she gets to know her surroundings and looks often into the abyss of human nature with childlike innocence. The return of the deported father causes great happiness as well as sorrow, as he must hide on account of his betrayal to his country. Then, in addition, the landlady appears with her son. And soon after the Wehrmacht surrender, in come the Russians. Everyone is afraid of them, everyone but Christl. Fly Away Home is based on the young people’s novel of the same name by Christine Nöstlinger and documents the events as seen from the unprejudiced perspective of a 9-year-old girl. Mirjam Unger’s screen adaptation was highly appraised by both Kurier and Die Presse, calling it “splendid” and “wonderful”, respectively. The author herself recalls the events of those years, explaining that “the weeks in the summer of 1945, when everything lay in ashes, were the most exciting, most thrilling and maybe even most beautiful weeks of my childhood.”

Guests

MIRJAM UNGER

Mirjam Unger
Director Fly Away Home
In Vienna: March 25