In 1942, Friedrich Weimer’s boxing skills get him an appointment to a National Political Academy (NaPolA) – high schools that produce Nazi elite. Over his father’s objections, Friedrich enrolls, seeing this as his ticket out of factory life to university and a good salary. During his year in seventh column (fifth form), this innocence is altered as Friedrich encounters hazing, cruelty, death, and the Nazi code. His friendship with Albrecht, the ascetic son of the area’s governor, is central to this education; a night in the forest hunting for escaped Russian POWs brings things to a head.
Release Date: 13 January 2005Runtime: 110 min
Stars:
- Alexander Held
- Claudia Michelsen
- Devid Striesow
- Florian Stetter
- Joachim Bißmeier
- Johannes Zirner
- Jonas Jägermeyr
- Julie Engelbrecht
- Justus von Dohnányi
- Leon A. Kersten
- Martin Goeres
- Max Riemelt
- Michael Schenk
- Thomas Drechsel
- Tom Schilling
Director: Dennis Gansel
