Plot

Cioma Schönhaus, a 21-year-old Jewish man, escapes the Gestapo and saves lives thanks to his ability to forge passports. His other talent is forging his own identity.

21-year-old Cioma Schönhaus won't let anyone take away his zest for life, especially not the Nazis. He wants to discover life, but has the misfortune of living as a Jewish person in Berlin in the 1940s. Since the best hiding spots are in plain sight, Cioma decides to go out into the light to escape deportation. Using the identity of a marine officer he created for himself, he throws himself into the city's nightlife and even finds a fragile hope for love during the darkest moments of the war. Throughout the day he forges IDs with just a brush, some ink and a steady hand - and saves the lives of many others. His talent puts him in more and more danger, though, and at some point Cioma's only hope to survive is a last forged ID - with his own name on it.

Berlin, 1942. A young Jewish man, Cioma Schönhaus (rising star Louis Hofmann, Dark, Land of Mine), refuses to let the Nazis take away his zest for life. When he discovers his talent for forging documents - especially passports - he sees this as the ideal way to help not only himself but also others escape deportation. Thanks to his knack for creating new identities, he dares to venture out, hiding in plain sight and navigating around the authorities with inventiveness and charm. He throws himself into the city's nightlife with his friends Det (Jonathan Berlin, Summer of 44) and Gerda (Luna Wedler), and even catches a fragile glimpse of love in seemingly hopeless times. But the more lives the trio saves, the more the noose tightens around them. Directed and written by Maggie Peren, The Forger is based on the true story Samson "Cioma" Schönhaus, a Jewish graphic artist who forged documents to help others escape the Nazis. In this illuminating drama, Hofmann embodies Schönhaus' indomitable optimism and determination, even in the darkest moments, to focus on the light.—Aziz