Milchwald

On her way to go shopping in nearby Poland, Sylvia abandons her two rebellious stepchildren, Lea (8) and Konstantin (7), on a country road. Upon her return, Sylvia cannot bring herself to tell her husband, the children's father, the truth about her absence. The children meet a Polish man who supplies restaurants with toiletries and promises to take them home. Meanwhile, the unsuspecting father sets off with the stepmother to search for the supposedly kidnapped children. IN THIS VERY MOMENT (original title: MILCHWALD) by Christoph Hochhäusler, made in 2003, is considered a precise study of guilt, repression, and the fragility of family structures. With cool images and a minimalist narrative style, the film creates an atmosphere that is both sober and oppressive. Judith Engel beautifully plays an ambivalent character torn between being overwhelmed and selfish, while the children's characters form the emotional core of the story. Hochhäusler's debut thus marked the beginning of a stylistically clear signature that later helped shape Berlin's “Nouvelle Vague” cinema. IN THIS VERY MOMENT (original title: MILCHWALD) celebrated its world premiere in 2003 at the Forum of the Berlin International Film Festival, a section dedicated to discoveries in independent and innovative cinema. This presented the film to an international audience and made Hochhäusler famous overnight.