In case you missed the Super Bowl spot for Christian Petzold’s Afire during last night’s big game, the first full trailer for the German auteur’s new film has now arrived. On a streak like few other directors and marking the second part of his elemental trilogy, which kicked off with water in 2020’s Undine, he now tackles––of course––fire before a subsequent feature about the earth. Reuniting him with Paula Beer, the cast also includes Thomas Schubert, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs, and Matthias Brandt, and now ahead of a Berlinale premiere, the first trailer has arrived.
“Leon and Felix’s plan was to spend the summer together in a holiday home on the Baltic coast,” reads the official synopsis. “They wanted to be there as friends but also to work – one on his second book, the other assembling his art portfolio. But Nadja and Devid are also there, and they bring lots of positive vibes with them. Four young people experimenting with love, even though this does not come easy to Leon. His unfinished manuscript haunts him wherever he goes, whether he is at the summerhouse or the beach. The others’ good mood often causes his to plummet. A visit from his publisher is imminent. But, as the latter arrives in his nifty small car, the forest begins to blaze. It rains ash, the sky turns red, and a relationship-drama that merges physical intensity and artistic sublimation takes a turn into a new dimension.”
See the trailer and poster below.
Afire premieres at Berlinale 2023.