Matrilineal

Summary

Matrilineal

"Matrilineal" tells the story of four women: the filmmaker, her sister, her mother, and her grandmother. Caterina Klusemann grew up in a villa in the heart of Tuscany. At home, an odd mixture of Spanish, Polish and German was spoken—but never to evoke the past; the past seemed to have been erased from memory, or perhaps it never existed.

Curious, Caterina asks questions, but receives only silence or anger in answer, especially from her grandmother. Was a terrible family secret buried in the past? She persists with her questions. Gradually, she establishes a bond with her grandmother that allows the elderly woman to open up and reveal the secret of her identity. It is a story of misfortune and renunciation. The women have found new bases on which to live as a family.

"Matrilineal" is an intense personal documentary that explores how a grandmother′s secrets of identity have had repercussions on two subsequent generations of women.

Source: German films Service & Marketing GmbH