BRUNDIBAR REVISITED

Category: Edition 2015

Synopsis
Holocaust? Again? That’s the first reaction of the members of the youth theatre company at the Berliner Schaubühne when they hear about their newest project. They shall play the children’s opera
BRUNDIBÁR, famous for its being performed at the concentration camp in Terezin-Theresienstadt. This is not a highly theoretical history lesson at school, and so they are thrown into the maelstrom of history when they travel to Terezin to learn about the terrors of the Third Reich and the place where BRUNDIBÁR played such a crucial role. The group is accompanied by Greta Klingsberg, an old lady from Israel and one of the few survivors of the original cast of BRUNDIBÁR. She takes the youngsters on a trip back in time and slowly they start questioning their lazy attitude towards German history.

Original Title WIEDERSEHEN MIT BRUNDIBÁR
Category Official Competition
Section GEx Doc
Tipology Documentary, Feature Film
Duration 88'
Production Year 2014
Nationality Czech Republic, Germany
Directed by Douglas Wolfsperger
Screenplay Douglas Wolfsperger
Director of photography Frank Amann, Igor Luther
Editor Frank Brummundt
Sound Axel Arft
Music Alex Komlew
Main cast Greta Klingsberg
Ikra-Fatma Latif
Produced by Douglas Wolfsperger
Access

Douglas Wolfsperger OKDouglas 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”.

production
festival contact
Douglas Wolfsperger Filmproduktion
Knesebeckstrasse 17, 10623 Berlin - Germany
phone +49 3088725349
fax +49 3088725351
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www.douglas-wolfsperger.de

world sales
Wilder Süden Filmverleih
Knesebeckstrasse 17, 10623 Berlin - Germany
phone +49 3088725349
fax +49 3088725351
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.brundibar-derfilm.de