OSKAR AND LENI (OSKAR UND LENI) European Film Showcase

Oskar, a gold-medalist swimmer at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, made headlines for almost fourteen years as Europe’s most wanted jewel thief. But in 1987, his career was ended abruptly by a bullet to his head and for 15 years he served a prison sentence. After nine years he is released because of diminished responsibility and for good behavior. In the underground he meets Leni, a tingle-tangle artist and part-time prostitute who works on an assembly line in a pastry factory. It is love at first sight. After their brief encounter she begins an increasingly desperate search for Oskar. Obesessed with the need for love but full of doubts about his worthiness, Oskar has disappeared anonymously into the city to do what he does best: swim and plan a heist. But one cannot escape love. Quite by chance, Oskar meets Leni again. Bound together like Romeo and Juliet, they face their fate in Petra K. Wagner’s impassioned, dreamlike tale.