Donkey Days
Donkey Days — A family drama about two sisters and their mother
World premiere in Locarno: Two adult sisters vie for the favour of their demanding mother. With dry humour, keen observation and a touch of magical realism, the film explores family ties, old conflicts and a longing for closeness.
Anna and Charlotte are always competing with each other. At least, that is how their mother Ines wants it. She sometimes favours one, making sure the other feels it. Still, the very different sisters return to their childhood home in northern Germany: one is queer and unconventional, the other an apparently tough career woman. Both have developed their own ways of dealing with their mother. This time, however, they both seem to be struggling: family pressure creates friction between Anna and her partner Noe, while Charlotte retreats behind a cool distance. As Ines grows older, unresolved questions and bizarre secrets emerge, including the mystery of an enigmatic urn and a strange connection to a donkey farm in Hungary.
Donkey Days is the second film by Dutch director Rosanne Pel. It had its world premiere at the renowned Locarno Film Festival, where it was enthusiastically received by both German-speaking and international press and audiences. Since then, the film has screened at festivals around the world and was among the films presented in the New Directors/New Films festival series at Lincoln Center in New York. Susanne Wolff (Visitation (TFD 2026), Sisi & I (TFD 2023)) once again impresses as the cold businesswoman Charlotte. Hildegard Schmahl (Ingensteds i Afrika (2001)) plays the distant and manipulative mother, while Swiss actor Carla Juri (Wetlands (2013), Blade Runner 2049 (2017)) plays her younger self.
