Director Clara Zoë My-Linh von Arnim is putting the finishing touches to Where You Come From, her first feature film and an adaptation of Saša Stanišić’s 2019 novel Herkunft (Origins). Shooting took place in Germany and Croatia in April and June 2026, and Leonine Studios will release the film in German cinemas on 4 March 2027.
The story follows a writer who drives his grandmother from Germany back to Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he plans to settle her in a nursing home. She is convinced instead that he is taking her home to the village where she grew up. Along the way, the trip stirs up memories that are tied in part to the country’s history. The film balances those heavy themes with humour and draws on autobiographical elements from the book.
Von Arnim trained at the DFFB film school in Berlin and has worked on short films and television. Her series credits include the youth web drama Druck and the TV series Die Zweiflers, and her work on Mozart/Mozart earned her a nomination for best director at the German Television Awards. Where You Come From is her move into cinema features, after building her name in series work.
Senad Halilbašić wrote the screenplay. The cast is led by Slavko Popadić, Gordana Boban, Marija Škaričić, Carlo Ljubek, Arsseni Bultmann and Maro Lovrić. Jieun Yi was the cinematographer and Simon Gstöttmayr edited the film, completing a team that worked across two countries during the spring and early summer shoot. Stanišić himself appears in a group photograph from the production alongside von Arnim and several cast members, a sign of the close link between the novelist and the adaptation. Gordana Boban-Herović, Slavko Popadić, Maro Lovrić and Marija Škaričić also appear in the picture.
UFA Fiction is producing with Leonine Studios and ARD Degeto Film, and funding has come from Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, MFG, the FFA, the DFFF and the BKM. Herkunft was one of the most widely read German novels of recent years, which gives the debut a ready audience when it reaches cinemas. With the release date fixed for March 2027, the remaining months will be spent completing post-production. The film is one of several German productions this year to cross borders for both its story and its locations, with a large part of the shoot taking place in Croatia.
