SHATTERED GLASS (SCHERBENTANZ) International Feature Competition

The destructive nature of family secrets and the redemptive power of the truth, however painful, are at the heart of this taut family drama.

Resentful and disillusioned, underachieving younger son Jesko just wants to be left alone to die from leukemia. At his father’s insistence, however, Jesko reluctantly returns home under the pretense of receiving a life-saving transplant. Instead, he’s blindsided by the presence of the mother he hasn’t seen since she was institutionalized when he was a child.

Writer/director Chris Krous mines this loaded set-up to the fullest, adeptly unfolding his story in a way that keeps it compelling and unpredictable, eliciting fearless performances. Jurgen Vogel as the contentious Jesko and Margit Carstensen as the haunted Kothe turn in particularly affecting performances.