Where Hands Touch Apr 2026

: Leyna’s mother, who desperately tries to navigate the bureaucracy of the Nazi state to keep her daughter safe.

The 2018 film Where Hands Touch , directed by Amma Asante, serves as a haunting exploration of a nearly forgotten chapter of World War II history: the lives of Afro-German children under the Third Reich. Set in 1944 Berlin, the movie follows Leyna (Amandla Stenberg), a biracial teenager fighting for her identity in a regime that deems her "undesirable". A Narrative of Survival and Identity Where Hands Touch

: A biracial girl struggling to assert her German identity while navigating systemic persecution. : Leyna’s mother, who desperately tries to navigate

The Forgotten Faces of History: Exploring "Where Hands Touch" A Narrative of Survival and Identity : A

: Under the Nazis, these children were often subjected to forced sterilization to prevent "racial defilement".

The film is inspired by the historical reality of approximately 25,000 Black people living in Germany during the war. Asante was particularly drawn to the stories of the so-called "Rhineland bastards"—children born to German women and African soldiers who occupied the Rhineland after World War I.

The story centers on Leyna, the daughter of a white German mother and a Black French soldier. As the Nazi regime intensifies its eugenics policies, Leyna faces constant threats of sterilization and imprisonment. Despite the pervasive danger, she forms a clandestine and risky romantic connection with Lutz (George MacKay), a member of the Hitler Youth and the son of a high-ranking SS officer. Key Cast and Characters