AIMÉE & JAGUAR tells the love story of two women whose lives could not be more different. Lilly lives a rather dreary existence together with her children and a housekeeper in a beautiful Berlin apartment, while her unloved husband is fighting at the front. To add some excitement to her life, she socialises with high-ranking Nazis. Felice, witty and vivacious, works under a false name for a newspaper, procures papers to help persecuted people escape, and lives life to the fullest. This includes affairs with women. When, one day, she meets Lilly at the theatre, she initially treats it as a game of seduction. And yet what begins as an affair blossoms into love. Eventually, Lilly separates from her husband, the two women move in together, and Felice reveals her true identity to her. To protect their secrets, they refer to each other as Aimée and Jaguar in their love letters. While others flee the Nazi regime, Felice chooses to stay in Berlin for the sake of love. She is eventually captured however and deported to Theresienstadt.
With her 1994 novel AIMÉE & JAGUAR, in which she drew on the memoirs of Lilly Wust, Erica Fischer produced an important testimony of queer (survival) history during the Nazi era.
Max Färberböck’s award-winning feature debut (awards received include German Film Award, a Silver Bear for Best Actress, and a Golden Globe nomination) is part of the JFBB educational programme for school groups. Actress, screenwriter, and director Maria Schrader – who portrays Felice Schragenheim – is the face of the 32nd JFBB.
AIMÉE & JAGUAR will only be shown as part of the educational programme for school classes.