Set on a remote farm in northeastern Germany, on land that would later belong to East Germany for more than four decades, the film unfolds across four distinct time periods, from World War I to the present day. In each narrative thread, we follow a story that takes place on the farm, with one woman, or sometimes several, at its center. During World War I, young Fritz, recovering from the amputation of his leg, is cared for by a young maid, under the watchful gaze of his niece, Alma, a child fascinated by the era’s custom of taking post-mortem photographs of deceased family members before burial. By the 1940s, Fritz has grown old, and Alma, now a young woman, has become obsessed with the idea of amputation. In 1970s East Germany, teenage Angelika is torn between the abuse she suffers at the hands of her uncle Uwe and the affection of his son, Rainer, who has fallen in love with her. In the present day, a family from the city spends their holiday on the farm, where Lenka befriends a local girl from the area whose mother died. At first glance, the four stories may seem entirely disconnected, linked only by the shared setting of the farm. Director Mascha Schilinski however, masterfully weaves them into an emotional tapestry across the ages — a journey titled: the western woman over the course of a century. A journey bound to the primal discoveries of womanhood, and of what life may hold for her: desire, violation, and death. As if a silent, magical thread, transcending nature and time, connects the women of the farm across the years.The inclusion of Sound of Falling in the Cannes Film Festival competition came as a surprise. No one had expected the director’s new film to be featured in the world’s most prestigious lineup. However, she astonished everyone with a work of remarkable dramatic and visual power, earning the film the Jury Prize. It is a film that demands an active, attentive viewer, and rewards such attention richly.Ahmed Shawky