A film unfinished [videorecording] / a production of Belfilms ; coproduced with Mittel Deutsche Rundfunk, MDR; Südwestfunk, SWR; Yes.docu ; in cooperation with Arte ; a film by Yael Hersonski ; producers, Itay Ken-Tor & Noemi Schory ; written and directed by Yael Hersonski.
Format:
[videorecording] /
Publisher:
Oscilloscope Laboratories,
Copyright Date:
c2011
Description:
1 videodisc (90 min.) : sd., col. and b&w ; 4 3/4 in.
Witnesses, Hanna Avrutzki, Luba Gewisser, Jurek (David) Plonski, Aliza Vitis-Shomron, Shula Zeder ; narration read by Rona Kenan. Originally produced in 2010. Special features: Death Mills (1945, 22 min.; directed by Billy Wilder; new telecine made from archival 16mm elements) ; Interview with author and film researcher Adrian Wood (ca. 15 min.) ; Scholar Michael Berenbaum on A Film Unfinished (ca. 4 min.) ; Study Guide in pdf format [DVD-ROM feature] with an exclusive essay by author and film scholar Annette Insdorf.
Contents:
Lost history -- Jewish Council -- "I might see my mother" -- Flowers, furniture, teapot -- Auerswald's reports -- Willy Wist, cameraman -- Garbage and lipstick -- Waiting to die -- Smuggling -- Underground Jewish archive -- Surprising discovery -- Dinner and theater -- "A Jew film" -- Death -- Ghetto in color -- "Today I can cry" -- Faces.
Summary:
At the end of WWII, 60 minutes of raw film in an East German archive was discovered. Shot by the Nazis in Warsaw in May of 1942, the film became a resource for historians seeking an authentic record of the Warsaw Ghetto. The later discovery of a long-missing reel, including multiple takes and cameramen staging scenes, complicated earlier readings of the footage. Presented is the raw footage in its entirety, falsely showing the 'good life' of Jewish urbanites. Included is an interview, and more. Death Mills: "Directed by...Billy Wilder for the U.S. War Department in 1945, [this film] was originally intended for screening in occupied Germany and Austria and featured a German language soundtrack...[T]he first documentary to show what the Allies found when they liberated the Nazi extermination camps: the survivors, the conditions, and the evidence of mass murder." -- Onscreen menu.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.