About the work
Aus dem Nichts (In the Fade) is based on Fatih Akin’s feature film of the same name, which he co-wrote with Hark Bohm; the film premiered in competition at Cannes in May 2017 and opened in German cinemas on 23 November 2017. It was prompted by the NSU nail-bomb attack on Keupstraße in Cologne in 2004, and Akin attended several days of the NSU trial in Munich while preparing it. A stage version by Stanislava Jević and Klaus Schumacher for audiences aged 14 and over premiered at Junges Schauspielhaus Hamburg on 18 January 2025; four performers share all the roles, and before the end the audience is drawn into the question of how the story should conclude.
Plot
Katja loses her husband Nuri, who is of Kurdish descent, and their young son in a nail-bomb attack outside his office in Hamburg. The police and those around her first look for the culprits in the family’s own circles, suspecting a feud among drug dealers or foreign organisations, until a young neo-Nazi couple is finally charged. When the court acquits the two for lack of evidence, Katja tracks them down in Greece and faces the decision whether to take revenge herself. The story is divided into three chapters: “The Family”, “Justice” and “The Sea”.
Cultural significance
Diane Kruger won the Best Actress award at Cannes in 2017 for the lead role; in 2018 the film won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film, made the Oscar shortlist and received the German Film Award in silver as well as the award for best screenplay. German critics were divided: they praised Kruger’s performance and the film’s emotional force, while others felt it cut short the political dimension of the NSU affair. The portal kinofenster.de recommends it for teaching in subjects such as politics, ethics and history.