Night Forest

“Take no notice of what people say,” Paul’s father always used to say. But that is far from easy. Paul’s father disappeared a year ago. According to the bullies at school he was a freak: he had discovered a legendary cave in the mountains, but no one believed him. Then Paul finds his father mysterious notebook. He secretly sets out with his friend Max, determined to find the cave. The journey through the mountains is both more difficult and more dangerous than expected but is a trip they will never forget.

This, the first feature film by documentary maker André Hörmann and scriptwriter Katrin Milhahn, combines the framework of an adventure film with a realistic, nuanced impression of friendship and processing loss. Paul’s mother wants to get on with her life, but the boy really misses his father, as is apparent from the moving flashbacks. Non-conformism is another theme.