Familie Haben

Is our fate predetermined by our family? Are the same family conflicts passed down from generation to generation? What must happen to break this vicious circle? Driven by the legacy of his late grandmother Anne, filmmaker Jonas Rothlaender embarks on a journey to trace the rifts in his own family. After decades of silence, he meets his grandfather Günther in Zurich, who embezzled several million dollars in risky stock market speculations over the course of his life, including the entire fortune of his then-wife Anne. Günther is 90 years old, seriously ill, and completely impoverished, living in a retirement home and obsessed with the idea of settling his “debt” before he dies. He has one last big deal in mind. But when Bettina, Jonas' mother and Günther's daughter, arrives in Zurich—hoping to finally reconcile with her father—Günther's view of what is important is clouded. FAMILIAR CIRCLES premiered at the Munich International Documentary Film Festival (DOK.fest), where it was celebrated as one of the most powerful German contributions. The film won the award for best documentary at the Achtung Berlin Film Festival and was also screened at the Hof Film Festival and the Kassel Dokfest. Critics praised Rothlaender's courage to be open and the emotional intensity of his autobiographical approach, which dissolves the boundaries between art and life. Produced by the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (DFFB) in collaboration with MissingFILMs, FAMILIAR CIRCLES is considered a milestone in young German documentary filmmaking—a work that explores the core of family relationships in a radically honest and deeply human way.