Heimat is a Space in Time

In “Heimat is a Space in Time” Heise examines nearly 100 years of German history through the prism of his own complex genealogy, drawing on letters, diaries and other documents from throughout the 20th century. His essay-film holds the personal and the historical in elegant balance, revealing how all families are subject to forces beyond their control. Rather than lean on archival footage, Heise and his cinematographer, Stefan Neuberger set these words against impeccably framed, mostly black-and-white landscapes. 

Starting with World War I and progressing through the horrors of World War II, life in East Germany under the Stasi and the fall of the Berlin Wall, “Heimat Is a Space in Time” reflects on history through a family that’s ordinary in many respects but also has a strong vein of intellectualism running through it — and, most helpfully, a lot of documentation for Heise to draw on.