Douglas Wolfsperger
He was born in 1957 in Zurich (Switzerland) as a German citizen and grew up at the Lake Constance. After work at SWF in Baden-Baden and WDR in Cologne, he now works as a writer and director in Berlin. His films include: the fiction feature films LEBE KREUZ UND STERBE QUER (1985), PROBEFAHRT INS PARADIES (1992), and the documentaries BELLARIA: AS LONG AS WE LIVE! (BELLARIA - SO LANGE WIR LEBEN!, 2001), RIDERS OF THE SACRED BLOOD (DIE BLUTRITTER, 2003), DID YOU EVER FALL IN LOVE WITH ME? (WAR’N SIE SCHON MAL IN MICH VERLIEBT?, 2005), LONG JOURNEY INTO THE LIGHT (DER LANGE WEG ANS LICHT, 2007), THE DISCARDED FATHER (DER ENTSORGTE VATER, 2008), DOUBLE LIFE (DOPPELLEBEN, 2011).
Director’s statement
“Good conquers evil: that’s what the characters do in the youth opera ‘Brundibár’, which was staged fifty-five times in the concentration camp Theresienstadt. For the young prisoners, the opera counterbalanced at least a little the contempt for human dignity shown by National Socialism. Until today, the opera reminds us of the resistance against the Shoah, a resistance within artistic, musical means.
“For almost seventy years now, National Socialism has been a part of history. Many people think that as of now, we should be done with commemorating and reviewing. I think this is a highly dangerous attitude – but in what forms shall we deal with Nazism today? How can we avoid the routine of ritualisation? How can we connect the past with the present? And how can we create authentic feelings that have not been worn off by repetition?
“I think the key to all of this lies in the experiences of the young protagonists in my film BRUNDIBAR REVISITED. During the rehearsals for the opera at the theatre ‘Schaubühne’ in Berlin and their encounter with the charismatic Greta Klingsberg, they develop strong reactions and new insights and so make the worst chapter of German history a part of our present.
“Far away from very theoretical lessons in school, but with much curiosity they deal with the subject with an ability to differentiate they have not been born with. As young as they are, every one of them has already a ‘past’, has had to deal with violence, intolerance and abuse.
“But through their individual, haunting stories and experiences, the multicultural ensemble takes the audience on a trip of re-envisioning the past.
“I am happy to present BRUNDIBAR REVISITED at Giffoni Film Festival and hope that the film will help especially the younger generation to find a new access to history”.