Poll Diaries, The

Director Chris Kraus’ follow-up to his award-winning debut film Four Minutes is a stunning historical drama set on the Baltic coast on the eve of World War I. Recipient of a Special Jury Award at the Rome Film Festival, this expertly crafted film takes a page from the life of Kraus’s own aunt, chronicling a little-known chapter of European history.

Oda Schaefer, a 13-year old German girl, returns to her father’s estate shared uneasily by an assortment of Germans, Russians, and Estonians. Oda’s father is a scientist obsessed with power and morbid experimentation, and as he exacts control over his subjects, so does he rule the family with a cruel hand. When Oda discovers a badly wounded Estonian anarchist after straying from a family picnic, she secretly nurses him back to health. As their illicit friendship deepens, the war begins to close in on the estate.

“Shot in rich, muted tones and sharp shadows, The Poll Diaries is historical drama at its finest. Posing a range of ethical questions, the film offers a compelling commentary on a morally bankrupt brand of reasoning that would come to underlie some of the greatest tragedies of the twentieth century.” Courtesy Cameron Bailey, TIFF.