Lara

Lara, the second feature by director Jan-Ole Gerster, made seven years after his debut Oh Boy, follows a stern woman who gave up her own musical ambitions to devote her life to her pianist son's career, and who discovers on her 60th birthday that he's giving a major solo concert to which she wasn't invited. It stars Corinna Harfouch. The film had its world premiere in the main competition of the 30th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, where it won a Special Jury Prize, the Ecumenical Jury Prize, and Best Actress for Harfouch. The film holds an 82 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes. Who it's for: anyone curious about a German film exploring the jealousy and pride of a woman who sacrificed her own ambitions for her son's career, on her 60th birthday, a triple winner at Karlovy Vary. Who it's not for: viewers wanting a warm, reconciling family story, since the film centers on suppressed ambition and a distant mother-son relationship.