“A magnificent, career-capping achievement from one of the
great storytellers of our era”
— Trevor Johnson, Time Out London
“It is nearly four hours, but never dull for a moment; indeed,
there is a box set addictiveness to the whole thing.”
— Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
CELEBRATED FILMMAKER EDGAR REITZ CONTINUES HIS VISIONARY SWEEP THROUGH HISTORY WITH AN EPIC DRAMA SET AGAINST THE 19TH CENTURY GERMAN EXODUS
TO THE NEW WORLD
HOME FROM HOME: CHRONICLE OF A VISION
Street Date: July 28, 2020
DVD/Digital: $24.95
Return to the Village of Schabbach and the Simon Family in This Sweeping
Black & White Prequel to Reitz’s Landmark “Heimat” Series, Arriving on
DVD/Digital from Corinth Films
SYNOPSIS
Celebrated German filmmaker Edgar Reitz, who just received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2020 German Film Awards, continues his visionary sweep through history with this black-and-white prequel to his ‘Heimat’ juggernaut, returning to the fictional Hunsrück village of Schabbach and the Simon family in HOME FROM HOME: CHRONICLE OF A VISION, nominated for “Best Feature Film”, “Best Director” and “Best Screenplay” at the German Film Awards.
In the mid-19th century, hundreds of thousands of Europeans emigrated to faraway South America. It was a desperate bid to escape the famine, poverty and despotism that ruled at home. Their motto was: “Any fate is better than death”. In HOME FROM HOME, a sweeping, epic evocation of the mass exodus of the German farmers and craftsmen to the New World, Reitz chronicles a domestic drama and love story set against the backdrop of this forgotten tragedy.
The film is centered around two brothers who realize that only their dreams can save them. The younger of them, Jakob (Jan Dieter Schneider), reads every book he can lay his hands on, and dreams about leaving his village, Schabbach, for adventures on an unknown continent and the freedom of the wild South American jungle. He studies the languages of the native South Americans and records his heroic attempts to escape the rural confines of the Hunsrück in an astonishing diary that not only tells us his story but reflects the aspirations and philosophies of a whole era. Everyone who encounters Jakob is drawn into the maelstrom of his dreams: his parents, bowed by the unremitting toil involved in making a living from the soil; his belligerent brother Gustav (Maximilian Scheidt); and above all Henriette (Antonia Bill), the comely daughter of a gem cutter fallen on hard times.
After having his heart broken following Gustav’s return from military service, Jakob is not content to be stuffed into the mold of a young laborer, so he rebels by assaulting the local marshals in an attempt to stand in solidarity with a fellow revolutionary; both are cast into prison and brought near death. For a time Jakob finds a new home after his release, then another, before events beyond his control finally reunite him with his family in Schabbach. It is here that Jakob’s colorful and magnetic influence is most strongly realized, and he realizes his place in the world is not that of his dreams in sweeping drama that Trevor Johnson of Time Out calls “a magnificent, career-capping achievement from one of the great storytellers of our era.”
PROGRAM INFORMATION
Type: DVD/Digital (iTunes, Amazon)
Running Time: 230 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen
Language: German with English subtitles
About Corinth Films
Since 1977, Corinth Films has been distributing foreign and independent arthouse cinema to audiences in the US & Canada. Beginning with such classics as David Lynch’s Eraserhead and Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2, Corinth’s more recent releases have included films by up-and-coming international directors such as Nadav Lapid and Mika Kaurismaki, as well as acclaimed longstanding auteurs such as Mohsen Makhmalbaf , Edgar Reitz and Andrei Konchalovsky. As the film-viewing landscape changes, the desire for intellectually stimulating and entertaining films will not, and Corinth continues its mission to acquire and release undiscovered, international watch-worthy content. To discover and enjoy Corinth’s film releases, visit www.corinthfilms.com.
