"Sophie Scholl — The Final Days" draws its inspiration from a set of recently discovered Gestapo protocols documenting the trial and execution of Scholl, her brother Hans, and their friend Christoph Probst, all leaders of the White Rose movement.

It follows Scholl, played by actress Julia Jentsch, for the last six days of her life, from a planned plot to distribute anti-Nazi flyers at the University of Munich to her execution at age 21 at the hands of the Gestapo in 1943.

Although the story of the Scholls has been taken up as a subject for film before, Rothemund’s film is the first to address Sophie’s Christian beliefs as a primary motivation for her actions.

In an exclusive November, 2005, interview with The Week In Germany, Rothemund talked about what makes Scholl’s story rife for film and her message one that resonates worldwide.

"Sophie Scholl stands for empathy, for curiosity and for civil courage: Addressing a problem when she could have looked away," Rothemund said. "I’ve been traveling around the world for ten months, often in countries that were ruled by dictators through the 1970s, and I can attest to you that the story of Sophie Scholl is one that moves people worldwide."

Rothemund interviewed many of the young woman’s relatives and friends to create a film character more in tune with who Sophie Scholl was as a person, not the almost mythical figure she has become in Germany, Rothemund says.

"Sophie Scholl - The Final Days" has already shown in select theaters and festivals throughout the United States and will be released on February 24, about two weeks before the Academy Awards ceremony.