November Moon

A wartime romance in which the two lovers just happen to be women. When November, a German Jewess, arrives in Paris in 1939, she captures the heart of a young man, but falls for his sister Férial. As the Occupation looms, November is forced to flee into the countryside, where she is sheltered by gentle peasants, but is shopped to the authorities and set to work in an officers' brothel. She manages to return to Paris, the bottom of the sofa acting as hidey-hole when anyone comes to call. With another mouth to feed, Férial has no choice but to work for the collaborationist press, bringing the mistaken but inevitable peacetime retribution. Both Osburg (November) and Millet (Férial) give powerful performances, and thanks to von Grote's sensitive direction, this gripping slice of herstory achieves a quiet grandeur.