• Runtime: 90'
  • Viewers: 5,88 Mio / 17,7 MA

Whoever removes the last traces becomes a witness to the dead. Judith Kepler has already seen a lot in her life. She is called in when the forensics team leaves. She turns crime scenes into habitable rooms again. She is a cleaner. But one day her job presents her with an unexpected challenge. At first, everything looks like a normal job. But in the apartment of a gruesomely murdered woman, Judith encounters her own past.

The dead woman had done some research and wanted to get in touch with Judith. And the dead woman knew her closely guarded secret: Judith had been brought to a GDR children’s home under mysterious circumstances as a child. Origin unknown. Always in the shadows: the State Security. The file was manipulated. Now, 25 years later,
Judith holds the proof in her hands that she was switched as a child. A stranger has lived her life. Did this stranger also die her – Judith’s – death?

In search of answers, Judith sets off for her old childhood home in Sassnitz. Unaware that her every move is being watched.

When Judith asks questions about the murder, she enters dangerous territory and finds herself
into the sights of powerful opponents. Following in the footsteps of the dead woman who looks more and more like her, Judith gradually begins to piece together the puzzle of her own past and soon becomes the hunted herself. Quirin Kaiserley, former BND agent, turns from tail to protector.

He accompanies Judith on her journey to Sweden. He, who knows all the tricks, all the ways, all the old networks, brings Judith to Malmö. There, where the murder victim is to be buried. Here the two hope to solve the mystery …

The film is directed by the master of emotional and gripping thriller entertainment Thomas Berger (“Ein weites Herz”, “Kommissarin Lucas”, “Schandmal – Der Tote im Berg”, “Wir sind das Volk”), who also wrote the screenplay based on motifs from the crime novel of the same name by Elisabeth Herrmann. The main character Judith Kepler – played by audience favorite Anna Loos – is an unusual character, and her search for the truth leads deep into the abysses of Germany’s recent past. A role that is tailor-made for the award-winning actress.

“Zeugin der Toten” is a ZDF commissioned production by Network Movie Film- und Fernsehproduktion, Hamburg. Producers are Jutta Lieck-Klenke and Dietrich Kluge. Daniel Blum is the ZDF editor.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

  • Stab:

    Drehbuch
    Thomas Berger
    nach Motiven des gleichnamigen Kriminalromans von Elisabeth Herrmann

    Regie
    Thomas Berger

    Kamera
    Frank Küpper

    Szenenbild
    Silke Buhr

    Kostüm
    Natascha Curtius-Noss

    Casting
    Rebecca Gerling

    Produktionsleitung
    Andrea Bockelmann

    Herstellungsleitung
    Roger Daute

    Produzenten
    Jutta Lieck-Klenke, Dietrich Kluge

    Produktion
    Network Movie, Hamburg

    Redaktion
    Daniel Blum, ZDF

    Die Darsteller:

    Anna Loos
    Rainer Bock
    Bernhard Schütz
    Hinnerk Schönemann
    Arved Birnbaum
    Hermann Beyer
    Henny Reents
    Andrè Szymanski
    Petra Hultgren-van de Voort
    Gitta Schweighöfer
    u.a.