Two very different people find out they have more in common than they imagined in this emotional drama from Germany. Elaine Richter (Corinna Harfouch) is a middle-aged woman who approaches artist Max Hollander (Josef Bierbichler) with an unusual commission -- she'd like a dual portrait of her two children, but while 22-year-old Lili (Karoline Herfurth) will be able to model for him, her son Alexander (Cyril Sjostrom) died a year ago at the age of 19 and the artist will have to work from photos and videos. Max agrees to the assignment, but he discovers that Lili isn't very enthusiastic about posing for him at first, especially after she informs him that Alexander's death was a suicide. With time Lili and Max begin to bond and come to understand one another's emotional crises. Lili is a gifted dance student who has lost a major role after an argument with her teacher and mentor, and she's sought solace in her relationship with Aldo (Misel Maticevic), an artist whose controlling nature is strangling her freedom. Meanwhile, Max finds himself drawn to Lili just as he's trying to come to terms with having romantic and sexual feelings for another man for the first time. Im Winter Ein Jahr (aka A Year Ago In Winter) earned Caroline Link "Best Director" honors at the 2009 Bavarian Film Awards. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi