''The Nasty Girl'' (german: Das schreckliche Mädchen) is a 1990 West German

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

based on the true story of

Anna Rosmus Anna Rosmus, also known as Anja Rosmus-Wenninger, is a German author and researcher born in 1960 in Passau, Bavaria. Early life and research As a 16-year-old, Rosmus started developing an interest in contemporary history, especially that of th ...

. The original German title loosely translates as "The Terrible Girl." The film was selected as the German entry for the

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

at the

63rd Academy Awards The 63rd Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 25, 1991, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m. PST / 9:00 p.m. EST. During the ce ...

, in which it was nominated for.

Plot

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

high school student, Sonja (

Lena Stolze Lena or LENA may refer to: Places * Léna Department, a department of Houet Province in Burkina Faso * Lena, Manitoba, an unincorporated community located in Killarney-Turtle Mountain municipality in Manitoba, Canada * Lena, Norway, a village in ...

as a fictionalized version of

) wins an essay contest and goes on a trip to Paris. Martin Wegmus begins teaching physics at Sonja's school and one of Sonja's classmates falls in love with him. Almost by luck, Mr. Wegmus and Sonja kiss. The teacher promises to return for her. The next year, she enters the contest again. She chooses "My Town During the Third Reich" from the possible topics. Her research leads her to discover that her picture-perfect town had been intimately involved in the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and that nearly all of the city's prominent families were members of the

Nazi party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

long before it came to power. As she digs further, local authorities stonewall her efforts. Sonja persists and learns that there had been eight

concentration camps Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

in the area and that all the

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

s were forced out of the town and had their property confiscated. Sonja marries Martin and the townsfolk think Sonja has dropped the issue of Nazi involvement. Sonja bears two daughters and studies history at the University. She resumes her research into the town's Nazi past and wins court cases granting her access to archives. She still has to employ trickery to get the information she wants. The townsfolks' hostility grows from verbal abuse, to death threats to physical assaults as they attempt to silence her with increasing desperation but nothing deters her. Her husband feels emasculated as he's forced to take care of the children. The family survives a bomb attack but Sonja keeps up her research. At the end, the townspeople change their tune, even putting a bust of Sonja at the town hall. Sonja sees this as a means to silence her and rejects the honor.

Cast

as Sonja * Hans-Reinhard Müller as Juckenack *

Monika Baumgartner Monika Baumgartner (born 19 July 1951) is a German television actress and theatre director. In her roles, she usually plays typical characters from Bavaria. Biography Born in Munich, Bavaria, Baumgartner studied at Otto-Falckenberg-Schule, a t ...

as Sonja's mother * Elisabeth Bertram as Sonja's grandma * Michael Gahr as Paul Rosenberger * Robert Giggenbach as Martin *

Fred Stillkrauth Fred Stillkrauth (1939 – 7 August 2020) was a German actor, perhaps best known for his work in Sam Peckinpah's ''Cross of Iron ''Cross of Iron'' (German: ''Steiner – Das Eiserne Kreuz'', lit. "Steiner – The Iron Cross") is a 1977 war fi ...

as Sonja's uncle * Barbara Gallauner as Miss Juckenack * Udo Thomer as Archivist Schulz

Awards

BAFTA Award for Best Film not in the English Language The BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language is given annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and presented at the British Academy Film Awards. The award was first given at the 36th British Academy Film Awards, rec ...

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...

Silver Bear for Best Director The Silver Bear for Best Director (german: Silberner Bär/Bester Regie) is an award presented annually at the Berlin International Film Festival since 1956. It is given for the best achievement in directing and is chosen by the International Jury ...

(Michael Verhoeven) * New York Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Foreign Language Film

Award nominations

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

Golden Bear The Golden Bear (german: Goldener Bär) is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin, featured on both the coat of arms and flag of Berlin. History The win ...

, Berlin Film Festival *

Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film is a Golden Globe Award presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Until 1986, it was known as the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film, meaning that any non-American film coul ...

References

External links