Villa Fellow Carolina Hellsgård's new film “Endzeit” (Ever After) celebrates its world premiere in the Discovery Program of the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff).

With women in every major creative role, ENDZEIT is a different kind of zombie movie. Set during a terrifying near-future zombie apocalypse, Carolina Hellsgård’s sophomore feature is chilling and doomladen, but it’s also a transfixing, gorgeous, and unusually intimate sort-of road movie — in which humanity has come to its end and nature is reclaiming its terrain.

Endzeit: A plague has swept the world. Weimar and Jura, the only surviving cities, have very different approaches to the epidemic. In Weimar, Vivi (Gro Swantje Kohlhof) — vulnerable and numb as a result of apocalypse- triggered tragedies — reluctantly volunteers at the city’s perimeter. It is at the ramshackle outer fences, requiring constant defence from attacks by infectious cannibal revenants, that she meets Eva (Maja Lehrer) — whose icy stoicism makes a striking contrast to Vivi’s delicate fragility. Following an attack at their post, they board an automated supply train bound for Jena, whose more humane approach to the victims of the epidemic offers some hope for the future. When the train unexpectedly breaks down, Vivi and Eva are left to fend for themselves in a countryside teeming with dangers and marvels they never dreamed of. "Endzeit" is based on a graphic novel of the same title, written by Olivia Vieweg, who also wrote the screenplay.

Carolina Hellsgård: Born in Stockholm, Carolina Hellsgård studied at the University of the Arts in Berlin as well as at Cal Arts’ Graduate Film Directing Program. Her debut feature, WANJA had its world premiere at the 2015 Berlin International Film Festival where it was nominated for Best First Feature Film. The film was shown at numerous international film festivals including Sao Paulo, Montreal, Gothenburg and Austin Filmfestival. WANJA was awarded Best Debut Film at the Biberacher Filmfestspiele and Best Script at Valletta Filmfestival, Malta. It was released theatrically in Germany in 2016. At Villa Aurora Carolina Hellsgård will work on the screenplay for a science fiction drama based on the current world situation. | www.hellsgard.com

Tiff: Founded in 1976, the Toronto International Film Festival, with around half a million visitors, is one of the world's most popular film festivals and the barometer for the upcoming Oscars. | further information about the festival and screenings of “Endzeit”