The children of Villa Emma

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
Original title The children of Villa Emma
Country of production Austria
original language German
Publishing year 2016
length 105 minutes
Rod
Director Nikolaus Leytner
script Agnes Pluch
production Klaus Graf
music Matthias Weber
camera Hermann Dunzendorfer
cut Bernhard Schmid
occupation

The children of Villa Emma (also: We are alive ) is an Austrian television film from 2016 by Nikolaus Leytner . The production was broadcast for the first time on March 23, 2016 on ORF . In the first , the film was shown on March 30, 2018. The title is given by the Villa Emma near the Italian town of Nonantola near Modena . In 1942/43 it was a refuge for 73 Jewish children from persecution by the National Socialists .

action

It tells the story, based on a true story, of a group of Jewish children who, with the help of the Children and Youth Aliyah founded by Recha Freier , set out from Vienna in the spring of 1941 to flee to Palestine . Among them are the 14-year-old Viennese Betty Liebling and the 17-year-old Tilla Nagler from Berlin. Betty leaves her father, who wants to make his way to America, her grandmother and her best friend Paula in Vienna.

Their escape initially took them across the border south of Graz to Zagreb , where they could not stay long due to the invasion of the German Wehrmacht in April 1941. After Georg, one of the group companions, is shot while attempting a rescue, Josko and Helga, whose husband is waiting for them in Palestine, have to go on alone with the group. On the trip, the survivor Marco Schoky joins the Kindertransport. The further escape leads her to Slovenia to a shabby hunting lodge in Lesno brdo .

But here, too, the Nazis are pushing their way , so the group flees on to Nonantola in the Italian Po Valley , where the empty Villa Emma was rented by a Jewish aid organization in July 1942 and a second group consisting of forty Jewish children and young people from Croatia is housed. There Betty experiences her first love with the Croatian 17-year-old Salomon. After the overthrow of Benito Mussolini in July 1943, the National Socialists occupied this region too, and the residents of Nanontola hid the children of Villa Emma from the Nazis. As a result, the flight continues to Switzerland . The on tuberculosis diseased Salomon must remain, he is by the Nazi to Auschwitz brought, where he is killed. Otherwise all of the group survived, but hardly any of their families.

production

The shooting took place in July and August 2015, and the shooting took place in Austria, Italy and Slovenia. The filming locations included Wildon , Deutschlandsberg and Hornegg Castle in Preding in Styria, as well as the original locations in Nonantola . The film was produced by Graf Filmproduktion GmbH , with Austrian radio and ARD ( Degeto ) involved, and Cine Art Styria supported the production . Max Vornehm was responsible for the sound, Uli Fessler for the costume design and Isidor Wimmer for the production design.

Contemporary witness Ari Rath , who himself once traveled from Vienna to Palestine on a children's transport, acted as a historical advisor for production.

Awards

reception

ORF television director Kathrin Zechner said with reference to the refugee crisis in Europe from 2015 : “This film admonishes and reminds us then as now of our responsibility towards the weakest, even beyond our borders. Using the fate of the children, he shows us how much we can live humanity but also inhumanity and how much social responsibility, opportunism, empathy and cruelty are human traits, between which we can choose very clearly. "

Danielle Spera , Director of the Jewish Museum Vienna said: “It is a story of humanity, solidarity and willingness to help, of not hesitating when asked to help spontaneously. The people who helped put their lives in danger. A touching film that you have to see. "

DerStandard.at wrote under the title Welcome Culture anno 1941 : “Today these girls and boys would be called unaccompanied refugee children , and it is good that the author Agnes Pluch and the director Nikolaus Leytner admit the madness of war, death and displacement in individual historical biographies try to grasp. "

A charity campaign was connected with the premiere in Velden, the initiative for Carinthia raised around 6,000 euros for the Lukasweg refugee center.

Tilmann P. Gangloff from tittelbach.tv wrote: “The film is characterized by earthy tones; the red swastika flags provide the only splash of color. Like powdery mildew, respect for historical meaning lies over the images; The staging is so dignified that an unwritten law forbids even the few moments of lightheartedness to appear cheerful. And too much is explained. The biggest shortcoming, however, are the figures, none of which have real depth. "

The first broadcast on ORF was followed by an average of 536,000 viewers, the market share was 20 percent. In the ARD , the first broadcast reached 3.16 million viewers, the market share was 9.7 percent.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Presentation of Leytner's historical ORF / ARD drama "The Children of Villa Emma" . OTS report of March 1, 2016, accessed on January 17, 2017.
  2. ↑ a b c Tilmann P. Gangloff: TV film “Die Kinder der Villa Emma” on tittelbach.tv , accessed on March 1, 2018.
  3. ↑ At Easter: Wörner and Makatsch investigate in the first . Article dated February 19, 2018, accessed February 21, 2018.
  4. ↑ Kleine Zeitung: Historical TV drama: The struggle for survival of Jewish children . Article dated July 22, 2015, accessed October 16, 2018.
  5. ^ Graf Filmproduktion GmbH - The children of Villa Emma . Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  6. ↑ tv.orf.at: ORF in memoriam Ari Rath: "The children of Villa Emma" and portrait . Article from January 13, 2017, accessed on January 17, 2017.
  7. ^ ORF in memoriam Ari Rath: Program changes on TV and radio . OTS report from January 13, 2017, accessed on January 17, 2017.
  8. ↑ derStandard.at: TV award for adult education to Leytner, Liska and Novak . Article dated June 21, 2017, accessed June 22, 2017.
  9. ↑ a b ORF television in March 2016: 35.3 percent market share for ORF broadcasting group . OTS report from April 1, 2016, accessed on January 17, 2017.
  10. ↑ derStandard.at: "The children of Villa Emma": Papa doesn't wait . Article from March 22, 2016, accessed on January 17, 2017.