Novemberkatzen / November Cats

In the early 1950s, on the outskirts of a northern German village, where the country’s economic miracle has yet to arrive, 11-year-old Ilse lives in community housing for single mothers. Her mother is seldom around, so the young girl runs the household for herself and her two older brothers more or less alone. In school, Ilse is considered stupid and the village children make fun of her. One day, Ilse finds an abandoned November cat – a term used for kittens born at the end of the breeding season. She feels an immediate bond with the fuzzy creature. She herself has learned the hard way that you can’t trust grown-ups. "November cats are useless", says Ilse’s mother, "nobody wants them". Without further ado, Ilse and the kitten move to the other end of the village to live with her grandmother. There, step by step, she begins to free herself from loneliness and the role she was assigned to play. This digitally restored 1986 film is a haunting portrait of childhood and marginalisation in post-war Germany.