In Development
Germany & Afghanistan
Feature Documentary
REVERBERATIONS
.jpg)
She ran through enemy fire to save others. Now she's trying to save herself.
​
Annika Schröder is one of Germany's most decorated female soldiers — an airborne combat medic who ran through Taliban fire during the 2010 Good Friday battle, the deadliest firefight in Bundeswehr history. Today she runs an agrotherapy farm in eastern Germany for veterans carrying invisible wounds. And she is considering returning to Afghanistan.
_edited.png)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
THE STORY
Annika Schröder served as an airborne combat medic in Afghanistan. During the 2010 Good Friday battle — the fiercest firefight in Bundeswehr history — she ran through Taliban fire again and again to recover the dead and wounded. US helicopter pilots gave her a nickname: Death Angel. She came home one of the most decorated female soldiers in German military history. The identity that defined her did not survive the war. PTSD took its place. The Bundeswehr discharged her.
​
Now she runs a remote farm in eastern Germany — a refuge for veterans carrying insomnia, addiction, and silence. There is no formal programme, only presence, routine, and the attempt to endure. Beyond the farm, she gives interviews, attends veteran events, speaks publicly for veterans' rights. The film stays long enough to see what that costs her.
As her influence grows, she begins to consider returning to Afghanistan — partly to strengthen her message, partly in search of something unresolved. Whether she makes that journey is unknown. The film does not move toward healing as resolution. It observes the ongoing negotiation of living with what may never be resolved — at a time when Germany is once again asking its young people to consider going to war.
The Battle
The Good Friday battle, April 2010 — Kunduz Province, Afghanistan. The deadliest engagement for the Bundeswehr since the Second World War. Three soldiers killed, many wounded. For the first time in decades, Germany openly spoke about being at war.
The Director's Connection
Killian Bayer saw the images from Kunduz as a young man and joined the Bundeswehr because of them — the same battle Annika fought in. In 2025, he returned to Afghanistan as a journalist. He met Annika after. At their first conversation about a possible film, she asked if he would go back to Afghanistan with her. He had been thinking the same thing.
WHY NOW
As Europe confronts the reality of war again — and Germany debates reintroducing conscription — the distance between public perception and lived experience has never been starker. Reverberations sits directly in that gap. It follows one of the most highly decorated female soldiers in German military history through a question that is becoming urgent for an entire generation: how do we treat the people we sent to war — and what does that tell us about the next generation we might send?
Selected by Documentary Campus
Reverberations was selected for development support by Documentary Campus — one of Europe's leading documentary development programmes, which has backed films that have gone on to premiere at IDFA, Sundance, and Berlinale.
PRODUCTION STATUS
NEEDS
Where we are
Development & Fundraising​
​
Production​
​
Post-production​
Festival submissions
​
TV Broadcast
​
Community screening campaign
What we need
Production funding
​
Pre-sales
​
Broadcasters
​
Co-producers
Let's talk before anything else.
Every partnership starts with a conversation. Book a 20-minute call — we'll walk you through the project and figure out if there's a fit.
_edited.jpg)
