Peter Hirtle, Cornell University, submitted this summary: Based on a true story, it tells about a young girl [Sonja Rosenberger (played by Lena Stolze)] in a village in Bavaria who decides to write a school essay on what her village did during the Nazi era. The town fathers told her not to go poking around in the archives, but she persists in court and is finally allowed access. While the depiction of archivists in the film is not pleasant, the film conveys a sense of the power of historical records.
This film was nominated for an Academy Award as best foreign film for 1990.
The Fictional World of Archives
Submitted by Peter Hirtle, 1997.01.03. Updated 1997.01.04.