Gerda's silence
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Gerda's silence |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 2008 |
| length | 92 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 6 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Britta Wauer |
| script | Britta Wauer |
| production | Volker Hahn |
| music | Karim Sebastian Elias |
| camera | Kaspar Koepke Bob Hanna |
| cut | Berthold Baule |
| occupation | |
| |
Gerdas Schweigen is a cinema documentary by Britta Wauer from 2008 based on the book of the same name by Knut Elstermann . In it, the director tells the story of Elstermann's Jewish nickname Gerda, who has lived in America since 1948. The German theatrical release was on November 6, 2008.
content
Gerda Schrage (born March 5, 1920 in Berlin; † March 8, 2010 in New York), daughter of Jewish parents from Poland, was part of the family for the Elstermanns. Knut Elstermann's great-grandparents and Gerda Schrage's parents were neighbors. In 1939 Gerda's parents were picked up. She herself was obliged to sew furs for the Wehrmacht , escaped deportation in February 1943 and managed to go into hiding with Hilde Prager, Knut Elstermann's great-aunt , in Berlin until she was tracked down in April 1944 and taken to Auschwitz . There she had a daughter, the result of an affair with a Hungarian fur trader, which she lost again within a few days due to the inhuman attempts of the concentration camp doctor Josef Mengele . In January 1945 Gerda was able to flee with the help of a German deserter. In 1948 she learned through a newspaper advertisement that her sister Toni - her only surviving relative - was living in Chicago. In the same year she emigrated to the United States.
background
As a boy in 1967 Knut Elstermann asked the Jewish aunt Gerda, who was living in America and was just visiting East Berlin , about where her child was. Knut was ashamed of the horrified silence of the adults present; Sunday afternoon remained unforgotten in his memory. 30 years later, Knut Elstermann asked Gerda the same question, this time in New York . And Gerda broke her silence. Knut Elstermann published the story of Gerda Schrage in 2006 as a book.
Reviews
The film “gets under your skin because she [Britta Wauer] captures this difficult process between 'aunt' and 'nephew' in her pictures. Because she makes it clear that what Gerda (does not) want to tell is only present in her head as a fragmentary puzzle waiting to be put together. And because it makes it possible to experience in a sensual way how vital it is to suppress and how painful remembering can be. "
Awards
At the 19th Kinofest in Lünen in 2008, Karim Sebastian Elias was awarded the prize for the best film music for his orchestral composition for Gerdas Schweigen.
literature
- Knut Elstermann: Gerda's silence. The story of a survivor. Be.bra Verlag, Berlin 2006, ISBN 978-3-89809-072-8 .
- Arne Höhne Press + Public: Press booklet for the film (PDF; 2.0 MB).
Web links
- Gerda's Silence in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Website for the film
- Gerda's silence on Kino-Zeit.de
- Gerda's silence . Be.bra publishing house
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Certificate of release for Gerda's silence . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , November 2008 (PDF; test number: 115 943 K).
- ↑ Gerda Schrage Obituary at tributes.com
- ↑ Peter Gutting: Between curiosity and respect. Kino-Zeit.de, 2008
- ^ Kinofest Lünen 2012: Previous winners