Lützerath - who hasn’t heard of it? That small village where everything converged in 2022 - a brief moment when the entire country turned its gaze toward those few houses, the people living there, and the resistance.

But why?

The Garzweiler open-cast mine belongs to the energy company RWE, which has been extracting lignite coal there for decades. An entire region has been shaped by it. The phase-out of coal has long been decided, and the bucket-wheel excavators effectively lack a future, yet RWE sees things differently. Relocations in Lützerath began in 2006, followed by clearing and demolition work in 2020.

The contradiction is immense, as is the resistance.

Long before the excavators could pave the way for the mine, a broad alliance of activists and citizens - in coordination with Lützerath’s last remaining resident - moved into the village itself. No one was going to leave voluntarily; Lützerath was there to stay.

Images of the resistance, the police, the excavators, and the small village perched on the edge of the excavation pit circulated through the media across Germany and the world. Lukas Reiter captured these images, too. Yet his approach is different. He aims to show what was happening there: how such a place functions, how the people lived, and how the movement organized itself from within.

His perspective is so profound, inquisitive, and thoughtful that he succeeds in impressively unfolding the movement - free from clichés and preconceptions - presenting it as approachable and self-critical, yet always with a touch of welcome lightness. Throughout, the focus remains on Blinker, Ronni, and Kathrin; they could not be more different, yet they are united in their cause: for them, the 1.5-degree limit runs right through Lützerath. CLOUDS OVER LÜTZERATH is a film about anger, resistance, hope, and a
perspective that assures us: Lützi lives on, even though the village no longer stands!

CLOUDS OVER LÜTZERATH
Presented by Rotzfrech Cinema
(Germany, 2025, 106 minutes)
Director: Lukas Reiter
Language: German
Subtitles: English
Rating: FSK 12