GERMANY – 2013 – 101 MIN – COLOUR - FEATURE - IN GERMAN & ENGLISH
A FILM BY THOMAS ARSLAN
FEATURING NINA HOSS, MARKO MANDIC, UWE BOHM, LARS RUDOLPH, PETER KURTH , ROSA ENSKAT, WOLFGANG PACKHÄUSER
Summer 1898. Canada during the Klondike Gold Rush. Emily Meyer joins a group of seven German American immigrants. Together they embark on the long journey to the newly discovered gold fields in Dawson. Brought together by shady businessman Wilhelm Laser's advertisement, the members of the group put it all on the line to change their miserable lives. Recommended by Laser, they decide to take the Ashcroft Trail, a route through the Canadian interior. With horses and a covered wagon, they take off without an exact idea of the dangers and strains that this journey has in store for them. Hardly any of them will have known that from their point of departure in Ashcroft, the distance to Dawson was more than 2,500 kilometres.
Full of hope, the prospectors begin their journey. The first part of the journey to Quesnel is relatively untroubled. But before too long, problems begin to arise. The terrain becomes ever more difficult to negotiate. They soon literally loose track as the supposedly marked and fully constructed path disappears before their eyes. Their route leads them along through a hostile and untapped wilderness. The strenuous journey and internal clashes begin to tear the group apart. Now Emily Meyer proves herself to be one of the most dogged and enduring in view of the many challenges. She does not know exactly what the future will bring. Nevertheless, of one thing she is certain: there is no way that she will return to the life she left behind.
Driven by a dream and the hope which it has inspired for a better life, the decimated group works through the rough environment toward their goal, a goal that seems to be further removed from them with every step they take.
DIRECTOR
Thomas Arslan was born 16.7.1962 in Braunschweig. Lived 1963-1967 in Essen. Attended primary school in Ankara/Turkey from 1967- 1971. Returned to Essen in 1971. Completed school there in 1983. Alternative community service in Hamburg, 1983 to late 1984. Lived in Munich 1985-1986. Studied German Language and Culture for one year there. Internships in filmmaking. Studied at the German Film and Television Academy in Berlin (DFFB) from 1986 to 1992. Has been a scriptwriter and filmmaker since 1992. Founded Pickpocket Filmproduktion in 2000. Professor for narrative film at the Berlin University of the Arts.