In the chaotic final few weeks of the Second World War, young German soldier Willi Herold (Max Hubacher), a lowly enlisted man, deserts, desperately trying to survive. Stumbling on an abandoned military vehicle, he finds a captain’s uniform and puts it on, and is transformed by its allure and power. Emboldened, he bluffs and swaggers through increasingly difficult situations, forming a task force of stragglers encountered along the way. A parade of fresh atrocities follows in the self-declared captain’s wake, serving as a reminder of the dire consequences of social conformity and untrammeled political power. Powerful and profoundly disturbing, based on a true story, The Captain presents fascism as a pathetic pyramid scheme, a system to be gamed by the most unscrupulous and hollow-souled. With Alexander Fehling. Written and directed by Robert Schwentke, director of RED, Allegiant, Insurgent and The Time Traveler’s Wife. Shot in crisp black-and-white, The Captain won the Jury Prize for Best Cinematography at the San Sebastián Film Festival. (Fully subtitled)