The film follows the seemingly forgotten story of the escape and the subsequent report of Vrba and Wetzler, and it opens up questions about the social narrative of the Holocaust and its transformation in our consciousness. The post-factual period, when people stop believing in factuality, is the period of "pre-fascism". A journey through history in the gaps of memory.
“It's probably my internal theme. I try to separate the protagonists and historical facts from the past and focus on the present. The title also reflects this. So, although the film’s framework is the story of Wetzler and Vrba (especially almost forgotten Alfred Wetzler), I want to show a wider political context in terms of the topic: the conscience of Europe”, director and producer Robert Kirchhoff told FNE.
The main production started in December 2023 and it is planned to continue until the end of April 2024. The 30 days of main shooting are taking place on locations in Slovakia, USA, Israel, Great Britain, Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic.
The film is produced by Kirchhoff´s atelier.doc and coproduced by Czech´s Hypermarket Film and Radio and Television Slovakia. The project is supported by the the Slovak Audiovisual Fund, the Bratislava self-governing region, the Foundation for the Development of Education and Creative Europe MEDIA .
The completion of the film is planned for June 2025. Film Expanded will be the Slovak distributor.
Production Information:
Producer:
atelier.doc (Slovakia)
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Coproducers:
Hypermarket Film (Czech Republic)
Radio and Television Slovakia
Credits:
Director: Robert Kirchhoff
Scriptwriter: Robert Kirchhoff
Story: Ľuba Lesná
Script editor: Jan Gogola,jr.
DoP: Juraj Chlpík
Cast: Gertruda Friedmann, Bea Lebkowitz, Gertruda Vrba, Robin Vrba, Vancouver, Jack Garfein, Tomáš Radil, Kurt Langbein, Peter Nausler, Zuzsa Kastner, Ofra Katsir, Eva Mosnakova, Fedor Gál, Egon Gál, Anna Kufova, Shlomo Aronson
