News

Originally premiering at the 2014 Berlin Film Festival, where it won Best Screenplay and a Jury Prize, Dietrich Bruggemann’s Stations of the Cross is one of the more underrated foreign theatrical releases of 2015. Receiving a paltry two week theatrical run in one theater at the end of July, the title didn’t find much of an audience, pulling in about fifteen hundred dollars. Though championed by director Paul Schrader, the title receives an equally demure DVD release and it will depend on word of mouth to direct more energy towards the complex drama.

With her family participating as members of a traditional and ultra-conservative Christian congregation called Society of Saint Paul, fourteen year old Maria (Lea van Acken) begins to find herself in rather a tough situation. Brainwashed against the demonic influence of rock, pop, and soul music, we meet her with a group of students being pressed aggressively in...

The Road to Hell: Brueggemann’s Apprehensive Examination of Blind Faith

Premiering at the 2014 Berlin Film Festival, where it snagged the Ecumenical Jury Prize as well as Best Script, Stations of the Cross is Daniel Brueggemann’s fourth film, an icy depiction of faith-based agonizing. In the fine tradition of Ulrich Seidl’s dark tragicomedies dealing with religious fanaticism, the German filmmaker concocts a formidable denunciation of such archaic and ultimately dangerous belief systems, made all the more surprising considering the director’s general penchant for comedy in previous features. Named for the Via Crucis, Latin for the series of fourteen images of Jesus Christ on day of his crucifixion, the film is divided into the same number of chapters charting its protagonists ‘sublime’ sacrificial journey.

With her family participating as members of a traditional and ultra-conservative Christian congregation called Society of Saint Paul, fourteen year old Maria (Lea van...

Stars: Lucie Aron, Anna Brüggemann, Michael Kamp, Moritz Knapp, Birge Schade, Florian Stetter, Sven Taddicken, Lea van Acken, Franziska Weisz | Written by Anna Brüggemann | Directed by Dietrich Brüggemann

Maria, fourteen years of age, just wants to be a good Catholic. Her family is part of a fundamentalist Catholic community who try to live in a modern world whilst dedicating their lives to their religion. She wants live a life without sin, sacrifice everything for those around her and avoid the sinful temptations of the Devil. Her biggest dream is to be a saint and show God that she loves him the most. Unfortunately, her troubled family life, bullying, school and a boy named Christian get in the way of her perfect dream but even they won’t stop her from reaching her place in heaven.

Stations of the Cross is a German film which deals with radical faith and religious devotion.

Stations of the Cross

Written by Dietrich Brüggemann and Anna Brüggemann

Directed by Dietrich Brüggemann

Germany, 2014

Dietrich Brüggemann’s Stations of the Cross is both an indictment of fundamentalist Catholicism and a testament to the enduring value of faith. The title comes from the traditional Christian devotion, which involves meditating upon the key scenes of Christ’s suffering and death. Structured rigorously around this concept, the film is divided in 14 self-contained chapters, each representing a different station and filmed in a continuous long take. It follows its teenage protagonist Maria (Lea van Acken) as she progresses through the stations, gaining an increasingly fanatical perspective on what it means to follow Christ.

The opening scene, titled ‘Jesus is condemned to death’, is an extended conversation between a priest (Michael Kamp) and his students. It’s a necessary and engaging exposition, establishing the key tenets of Maria’s faith and the spiritual...