Following the acclaimed Barbara (2012) and Phoenix (2014), the Berlin School's Christian Petzold returns to Europe's haunted past with this captivating adaptation of the classic novel by Anna Seghers. A disquieting reflection on morality and politics contained within the genre framework of a World War II thriller, Transit stands as a remarkable illustration of what it means to make a film about history. The plot follows Georg, a roguish and mysterious man on the run from the occupying authorities. Awarded a visa after a case of mistaken identity in Marseille, he awaits his escape from the continent among the countless other ghostlike refugees hoping to secure passage out of the port city. Although Transit is set ostensibly in wartime France, Petzold makes a pointed effort not to dress the story in much period-specific detail, effectively transposing the 1942 setting into the present day. With this striking dialectic of past and present, Transit forces us to reconsider our contemporary political conditions and whether they may not be so dissimilar to those that brought catastrophe more than 75 years ago.

In competition for the Ricky Jay Magic of Cinema Award.