Fog in August (Nebel im August), Cineworld, Edinburgh International Film Festival

A film based on real people and events in Germany in 1942-44.  Thirteen year old Ernst has been committed to a sanatorium because of his Yenish background and troublemaking tendencies.  His fellow inmates have a range of mental and physical health issues, or are 'undesirables' like him, with some confined to bed or ward.  The regime is austere, but appears to be interested in the wellbeing of the inmates.  Except for the regular bus that takes selected individuals away.  Ernst learns they are being sent to a euthanasia camp.

When Berlin decides that the programme is to be sped up, the power to choose who lives and dies is delegated to the sanatorium director, and he brings in the angelic looking nurse Kiefer to assist with the killing.  Ernst finds allies in both the staff and inmates in trying to frustrate these efforts, but it's a battle they can never hope to win.  Eventually Ernst realises the only hope he has is to escape, but can he get out with new found friend Nandl?

Despite the bleak subject matter this is a story with friendship at it's heart, and moments of humour along the way.  It's an important depiction of a little known aspect of the Nazi regime's madness in trying to cleanse the 'master race' of undesirable elements - which, to them, includes the disabled, and a story that should be more widely known.

Young Ivo Pietzcker is excellent as Ernst, a mix of cunning, compassion and mischief.  Although much of the action is shot indoors, there are some beautiful visual moments outside, notably on a moonlit lake and when Ernst finds himself astride the rooftop of the sanitorium, looking out over a landscape where freedom may lie.

The closing titles reveal what became of the film's main protagonists in real life.  A powerful history lesson and reminder of the essential inhumanity of the far right.
 Highly recommended.