German Australian co-production <Lore> is an unsettling contemplation of the power of denial and the will to survive. Energised by Saskia Rosendahl’s powerful performance in the title role, the film tells the story of five German children who, under instruction from their Nazisympathizing parents, surreptitiously head to a relative’s Hamburg home. By virtue of being the eldest, Lore is forced to make all the decisions for her younger siblings about who to trust ? and not to trust ? as they evade the advancing American troops. By focussing on inanimate objects, rather than the faces of her characters, director Cate Shortland amplifies the sense of disconnection with the new reality that faced the German people in the wake of World War II. Lauded at its June premiere at the Sydney Film Festival, <Lore> went on to win the Prix du Public at this year’s Locarno International Film Festival. (Russell EDWARDS)