“Home Stories”, interview with actors Frida Hornemann and Max Riemelt

February 21, 2026

Frida Hornemann and Max Riemelt protagonists of Eva Trobisch’s Home stories, in the 76th Berlinale competition

“Home Stories”, interview with actors Frida Hornemann and Max Riemelt Chiara Nicoletti

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German director Eva Trobisch is back at the Berlinale, after presenting her second film, “Ivo“, in the Encounters section back in 2024, with “Home Stories“.

Premiering in the 76th competition, the film is a coming of age story that also deals with an East German family and the eternal struggle we all have to face about our identity and the constant contrast between who we are and how we presents ourselves to others, to the outside world.

Father and daughter

“Home Stories” sees Frida Hornemann in the film’s lead role, playing Lea, a sixteen-year-old girl who is selected for a talent show, an experience that forces her to present herself to the world, and to present her family as well.

Trobisch doesn’t only focus on the difficult path of Lea, looking to define who she is but she also finds the space and time to look into her father, Matze (Max Riemelt)’s life, his relationship with Lea’s mother, whom he’s separated from (and that is pregnant with another man) so that the audience can understand more about the dynamics Lea is being raised in.

“Home Stories” is also a film about father and daughter and how they navigate life while transitioning from invisibility to visibility because of their exposition to the outside world through the reality Tv show.

An East German man

While Frida Hornemann tells us about her experience being directed by Eva Trobisch and the very first scenes they had to shoot (Lea’s TV performance was shot on Frida’s first day of shooting ever), Max Riemelt reveals how he was the perfect fit to play the East German man as Eva Trobisch didn’t want his character to be stereotypical.

As a man and actor who was born in East Germany, Max Riemelt was the perfect fit to play Matze, Lea’s father and to overcome any risk of representing a unidimensional character.

Plot

When at the audition for a TV talent show, sixteen-year-old Lea is asked, “Who are you and what makes you special?”, she is at a loss what to say and begins to look for a suitable self. Back home in provincial East Germany, things are complicated. Her parents broke up recently. Her grandparents are constantly bickering, worn down by the pressures of keeping the family hotel afloat. She looks up to her aunt, whose cultural aspirations don’t make her universally popular in her small town. And her best friend Bonny only has eyes for Lea’s cousin Edgar. As her TV appearance approaches and a camera crew comes to town to shoot the introductory reel, what home story can Lea stitch together from the fragments of her life?

Written by: Chiara Nicoletti

Guest

Frida Hornemann Max Riemelt

Film

Home Stories

Festival

Berlinale

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“Home Stories”, interview with actors Frida Hornemann and Max Riemelt