DIE FEUERPROBE – NOVEMBERPOGROM 1938(Erwin Leiser, BRD/CH 1988, 27.1., Introduced by Erika and Ulrich Gregor and Gertrud Koch) combines rare historical footage of the pogroms of November 1938 with the depictions of eyewitnesses, creating a haunting documentary that not only depicts the escalation of anti-Semitic violence but also highlights the significance of Kristallnacht as a turning point in the persecution of the Jews. Leiser (*1923) himself survived the pogrom hidden in a Berlin attic. His Jewish schoolmates and teachers were arrested and deported. He and his parents were able to flee to Sweden a short time later. He later made several documentaries and reports about National Socialism.
DER LETZTE JUDE VON DROHOBYTSCH (The Last Jew from Drohobych, Paul Rosdy, Austria 2011, 28.1., Guests: Paul Rosdy) Alfred Schreyer tells the story of his family - over a century of tragedy and will to live. The 90-year-old was the only member of his family to survive the Holocaust. In 1945, he returned to his hometown in what is now Ukraine, after surviving various labor and concentration camps. For many years, he was a singer and violinist in the local cinema foyer orchestra. The only piece that he ever composed himself is called QBronitza WoodsQ. 11,000 Jews were shot there, including Schreyer's mother.
VOICES OF THE CHILDREN (Zuzana Justman, USA 1998, 29.1., Guests: Zuzana Justman and Helga Pollak-Kinsky) Between 1941 and 1945, over 15,000 Jewish children were deported to Theresienstadt, including Zuzana Justman. In VOICES OF THE CHILDREN,she uses diary entries and drawings to tell the story of three survivors whose lives and families are depicted until the present… Before the screening, we will show the short film DACHBODENSTIMMEN (Anna Brass, Magdalena Hutter, D 2010, Guest: Magdalena Hutter) about Vera Bondy, whose sister was the editor of "Hlas Pudy", a newspaper published by children in Theresienstadt.
DARK LULLABIES (Irene Lilienheim Angelico, Abbey Jack Neidik, Canada 1985, 31.1., Guests: Irene Lilienheim Angelico and Abbey Jack Neidik) This was one of the first films to deal with the impact of the Holocaust on the second generation - the children of survivors and perpetrators. The filmmaker's parents survived the Vilna Ghetto and emigrated to Canada after the war. She was born in 1946. In her film, her personal search takes her to the World Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors in lsrael. She looks at the influence of her parents' persecution on her own life. In Germany, she meets the children of perpetrators who talk about discovering about their parents' crimes and how they deal with their own guilt.
MEIN LEBEN TEIL 2 (My Life Part 2, Angelika Levi, G 2003, 31.1., followed by a podium discussion on the subject "Second Generation" with Angelika Levi, Irene Lilienheim Angelico and Abbey Jack Neidik moderated by Knut Elstermann) The starting point of the film is the archive of the filmmaker’s mother, whose parents separated after the National Socialists came to power. She was able to survive the war with her non-Jewish mother in Hamburg, whereas her Jewish father emigrated to Chile. Using objects, photos, film and sound footage, Levi talks about what was said in the family and what went unsaid. "The film is about traumatization, but also about how history is always being produced, archived, brought into a discourse and categorized at the macro and micro level."
The season will continue until the 4th February with screenings of SHOAH (Claude Lanzmann, F 1974–85), WE WERE SO BELOVED (Manfred Kirchheimer, USA 1981–85), HABEHIRA VEHAGORAL (Choice and Fate, Tsipi Reibenbach, Israel 1993) and D'EST (From the East, Chantal Akerman, F/B 1993).In October and November 2015, the project will conclude with the screening of all 10 newly digitally available films accompanied by introductions and discussions.
"Asynchronous. Documentaries and Experimental Films on the Holocaust. From the Arsenal– Institute for Film and Video Art e.V. Collection" is funded by the www.stiftung-deutsche-klassenlotterie-berlin.de - external-link-new-window "Opens external link in new window">Stiftung Deutsche Klassenlotterie Berlin.
