Ein Mädchen namens Willow 
Germany
2025
Opening 27 Feb 2025
Directed by:
Mike Marzuk
Writing credits:
Gesa Scheibner, Sabine Bohlmann
Principal actors:
Ava Petsch, Cora Trube, Anna von Seld, Mary Amber Oseremen Tölle, Golo Euler
Eleven-year-old Willow loves to run around (barefoot) in the forest which she inherited from her great-aunt Alwina. An abandoned piano in the woods can “play” itself and provides music. There is also an old house, full of antiques. Here she meets up with mysterious witch master Grimmoor (Max Giermann); he encourages Willow to practice her witching talents and sends her out to find more young girls with similar talents. Together they will represent the four most important elements: Water, Earth, Light, and Fire. Willow’s father Adam desperately needs to repay debts, including inheritance taxes, and his only source of money is to sell the forest to Mr. and Mrs. Geier. They are delighted and tour the area completing plans to turn it into a shopping center. With the support of Grimmoor, Willow and her friends run out to save the woods.
Here we see a magnificent forest with its own personality full of amazing trees including the willow tree. This tree grows in Europe, Asia, and North America in 300 different species, all with long, hanging-down branches. The first sentence in our film is “I don’t need any friends.” Naturally, it doesn’t take long before Willow has organized a team with THREE friends: Valentina, Gretchen, and Lotti. Grimmoor (two “m’s and two “o’s”) always appears in black and white with many pieces of paper hanging on his wardrobe. A mysterious drink endangers the ability to remember. Ein Mädchen namens Willow, which literally translates to “A Girl Named Willow,” is super fun for the whole family probably beginning with eight-year-olds, perhaps more for girls than boys. There are excellent actors, especially Ava Petsch, Cora Trube, Anna von Seld, and Mary Tölle, who play the young girls. Based on a series of books by Sabine Bohlmann and filmed in Bavaria and Austria. (Becky Tan)
