A Fading Man

Directed by Welf Reinhart in his debut feature film, A Fading Man is a touching story about love and friendship, forgetting and remembering, and finding the courage to start again. Artist Hanne (Dagmar Manzel) and retired pastor Bernd (August Zirner) have a happy marriage that has slipped into routine after years living on the edge of a German village. One day, out of nowhere, Hanne's former husband Kurt (Harald Krassnitzer) arrives at their door. However, Kurt has no memory that he and Hanne have been divorced for 20 years, so his arrival upends Hanne and Bernd’s orderly lives. When the couple takes him in temporarily, a lightness they thought was lost returns to their marriage, and what begins as an uneasy coexistence gradually opens up unexpected possibilities for love and life. With sensitivity, nuance and quiet humour, this is a tender drama about getting older and staying young and the comical moments that make our lives what they are.