Nina Hoss

Barbara (2012) and Phoenix (2014) are strong starting points in Hoss's collaboration with Christian Petzold. The first makes her an East German doctor under surveillance; the second follows a Holocaust survivor returning to Berlin. Both German-language films depend on the difference between what a person feels and what it is safe to reveal. Her reserve is active and alert, giving a glance or a pause the force another performance might seek through a speech.