THE Holocaust drama “The Reader” has quietly resumed production in Berlin after shutting down last year when Nicole Kidman was forced to drop out because of her pregnancy.

Kate Winslet has stepped into her shoes, playing a concentration camp guard. Also on board are Ralph Fiennes, Bruno Ganz, David Kross and Alexandra Maria Lara.

The story is set in postwar Germany and centers on a teen who begins a long, obsessive affair with Winslet’s character. He never learns much about her, and when she disappears one day, he expects never to see her again. But to his horror, he discovers that she is a defendant in a Nazi war crimes trial, and it soon becomes clear that she is guilty of an unspeakable crime.

The project marks a reunion between director Stephen Daldry and screenwriter David Hare, who previously collaborated on the Kidman vehicle “The Hours.” It is based on the international best-seller by German author Bernhard Schlink.

(SD-Agencies)