Unfolding in a remote German farmhouse situated along the Elbe, the sublimely haunting, deeply lyrical Sound of Falling traces the mundane and magical experiences of four girls — Alma (Hanna Heckt), Erika (Lea Drinda), Angelika (Lena Urzendowsky), and Lenka (Laini Geiseler) — who call the foreboding place home at various intervals over the course of a century. Living under war is one of the trials endured by the girls, but conflict and hardship are a throughline across inhabitants. As we flit back and forth in time, cycles and patterns emerge, and just as the girls’ experiences start to mirror one another’s, so too does their resilience.
In turns delicate and devastating, Mascha Schilinski’s ambitious sophomore feature vaults her to the forefront of international cinema’s most exciting and assured rising talents. From the enchanting opening sequences, cinematographer Fabian Gamper seems akin to a spectral presence, sweeping through both rooms and eras as if untethered by traditional notions of gravity or time. Ethereal and bewitching, this is cinema at its most experiential.
Jury Prize, Cannes 2025; Oscar Submission: Germany
Community Partner
Mascha Schilinski
Lena Urzendowsky, Luise Heyer, Lea Drinda, Laeni Geiseler, Hanna Heckt, Susanne Wuest
Germany
2025
In German with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Credits
Executive Producer
Lasse Scharpen
Producer
Maren Schmitt, Lucas Schmidt
Screenwriter
Louise Peter, Mascha Schilinski
Cinematography
Fabian Gamper
Editor
Evelyn Rack
Production Design
Cosima Vellenzer
Original Music
Michael Fiedler, Eike Hosenfeld
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Amrum
Twelve-year-old Nanning (Jasper Billerbeck) sets himself a mission to secure bread and honey for his mother to snap her out of her depression. It is 1945. The war is all but lost, and such luxuries are not easy to find on the remote island of Amrum...
Holy Days
After his mom passes, Brian (Elijah Tamati) is comforted by Sisters Agnes, Luke and Mary Clare (Judy Davis, Miriam Margolyes and Jacki Weaver, respectively). The quirky quartet hit the road to save their convent from being sold to a property developer.
Blue Heron
In the late 1990s, eight-year-old Sasha and her Hungarian immigrant family relocate to a new home on Vancouver Island. Their fresh start is interrupted by increasingly dangerous behaviour from Jeremy, the family’s oldest child.