Synopsis
How much soldier is still alive in me?, Sebastian Heinzel asks himself when he learns from the Wehrmacht archives that his grandfather fought in Russia during the Second World War. Grandpa Hans had never told his family about the mission.Inspired by these discoveries, the filmmaker travels to the places where his grandfather was stationed as a soldier. He encounters unexpected connections to his own life and to his war dreams, which have been haunting him for decades. As Sebastian gets deeper into the search, he gets his father involved, which breaks a silence that has blanketed his father and brings the two closer together. The film shows how knots in one's own family history can be loosened and how changes can be made.
New research from epigenetics indicates that enormous stress experiences change the genetic make-up. These groundbreaking insights offer a window onto inheritance the descendants carry on their shoulders - often without being aware of it. With the help of scientists, therapists and authors, the director explores how far-reaching collective events such as flight, expulsion and genocide reach into the second and third generations.
Against the background of the global refugee crisis and international tensions, the film explores the long-term consequences of war and the work we must do in ourselves in order to make healing and reconciliation possible.