An evocative and poetic debut film set on a family farm
Against the backdrop of an idyllic German summer, a young farmer named Katinka harbors ambitions of holding onto her family’s farm. Yet her dream is challenged by the realities of modern agriculture, a sector beleaguered by economic hardships and ongoing decline.
Unique for its focus on the plight of young women farmers, Smell of Burnt Milk charts a distinctive path by toying with documentary conventions to create a portrayal of rural life which, though fictional, comes across as both authentic and improvised. Its lyrical and languid visuals belie the family’s uncertain and unstable future in agriculture.
ANG : “Bauer reveals a distinctive voice in her pacing, composition, use of wistful narration and framing of the farming family in groups, generations and individual portraits.” Allan Hunter, screendaily.com, 02/07/2024
Young German Cinema Award, Munich Film Festival, 2024, de
Justine BAUER
Raised on an ostrich farm, Justine Bauer is a screenwriter and director from Germany. She studied Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig before training in filmmaking at the Academy of Media Arts Köln. Smell of Burnt Milk, her debut film as well as her graduation film, won best production in the New German Cinema section of the 2024 Munich Filmfestival.
