CHILDREN OF NO IMPORTANCE is a deeply affecting story about abandoned, illegitimate children who suffer at the hands of boozing, exploitative and state-paid foster parents.

The film wears its connections to German Expressionism lightly: there are sharp angles, deep shadows, chiaroscuro lighting, but it’s the performances of the two children playing the older child leads that capture our attention. Peter, Lotte and little Frieda are ‘looked after’ by a drunken, violent man and his miserly wife. Peter is forced out on the streets in search of money, but Lotte is his main concern – he loves her like a sister, but they are not related, just thrown together by chance. When Lottie becomes ill their foster mother decides not to send for the doctor. Her meanness ends in tragedy. Later, for a brief time of happiness and love, a wealthy spinster rescues Peter from this hell but there’s a hiccup – his biological father turns up, disrupting Peter’s idyll. But, dear lachrymose viewer, don’t despair! In this case there is hope, but you should discover it for yourself. Lamprecht coaxes remarkable performances from the children, his camera unobtrusively capturing their interactions and expressions. They seem to genuinely revel in each other’s company; their bond is utterly believable. CHILDREN OF NO IMPORTANCE would fit perfectly into Mark Cousins’ recent Children and Film series and it certainly ranks with Hugo & Josephine or Tomka & His Friends.

Children of No Importance screens on 29th Aug at 18.00 and there is an outdoor screening on 5 September at 20.30, at the Cambridge Film Festival.