Inspired by true events, COLONIA tells the story of Lena and Daniel, a young couple, who become entangled in the Chilean military coup of 1973. Daniel is abducted by Pinochet’s secret police and Lena tracks him to a sealed off area in the South of the country, called Colonia Dignidad. The Colonia presents itself as a charitable mission run by lay preacher Paul Schäfer but, in fact, is a place nobody ever escaped from. Lena decides to join the cult in order to find Daniel.
COLONIA is a marriage of an unforgettable love story and political thriller set during one of the Cold War’s darkest chapters.
Academy Award® winning filmmaker Florian Gallenberger directed COLONIA based off a script written by him and Torsten Wenzel. German Academy Award winner Benjamin Herrmann produced the feature through his Majestic banner (DESERT FLOWER, JOHN RABE, TOUR DE FORCE).
The film stars Emma Watson (HARRY POTTER, NOAH, THE BLING RING) in her first lead role since Harry Potter, Golden Globe® nominee Daniel Brühl (RUSH, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, THE FIFTH ESTATE) and Michael Nyqvist (THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO trilogy, JOHN WICK) as Paul Schäfer. The supporting cast includes Richenda Carey (SEPARATE LIES), Vicky Krieps (A MOST WANTED MAN), Julian Ovenden (DOWNTON ABBEY), August Zirner (THE COUNTERFEITERS) and Martin Wuttke (CLOUD ATLAS, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS).
COLONIA is a production of Majestic Filmproduktion, co-produced by Iris Productions, Rat Pack Filmproduktion, Rezo Productions and Fred Films, in association with ProSieben and Sky, supported by FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, FFA German Federal Film Board, German Federal Film Fund (DFFF), Luxembourg Film Fund and the MEDIA program of the EU.