Sealed Lips

After spending years in a grueling labor camp in the Soviet Union, Antonia Berger and her daughter, Lydia, are finally home. It’s 1952 in East Germany, and the Communist Party has provided a warm welcome complete with medical care for Lydia, housing, and a stable job for Antonia as the new director at the community theater. These perks, of course, come at a price: they must promise to never speak of their time served in the labor camp as innocent German citizens for the sake of the Party’s future and reputation. A self-proclaimed Communist, Antonia feels betrayed by her own government, to which she remained fiercely loyal before the war began. As she settles into this new chapter of her life, the heinous truth of her years in the Gulag become increasingly difficult to suppress. Based on existing reports and conversations, Sealed Lips unpacks the complexities of war and the deceitful measures those in power will take to preserve the “common good.” (Cleveland International Film Festival)