Annelie

Social realism collides with gonzo surrealism in Antej Farac’s mesmerising debut. Slipping inside Munich’s dilapidated but incredibly cinematic Annelie Pension, we’re introduced to the deviants, outcasts and hard-luck cases who call various corners of the former hotel home. We watch theses rogues drink and drug, bicker and come to blows, steal from and exploit one another… And yet, when the facility is threatened with closure, they band together in a bid to go down swinging. In turns chaotic and compassionate, Annelie reminds us to beware the man who has nothing to lose.

A neighbour of the real-life pension depicted in the film, Farac enlisted several actual residents to play characters and incorporated elements of their true stores into his narrative. Seamlessly shifting between fact and fiction, Annelie similarly alternates between a sprawling ensemble piece and a piercing character study centred on Max, a drug-addled romantic played with remarkable conviction by Georg Friedrich. And in a brilliantly staged climax, Farac quite literally sends reality hurtling headlong into raucous fantasy, thus ensuring that Annelie goes out with both a bang and a whimper.

"Annelie is a slow sinking pirate ship with a very colourful crew… this sad, turbulent and oblique filming experience was one of the most beautiful I’ve ever had."—Antej Farac