1678 – The Accountant of Auschwitz (2018 documentary)

The Accountant of Auschwitz is a Canadian documentary film, produced by Ricki Gurwitz and Ric Esther Bienstock and directed by Matthew Shoychet. The film centres on lawyer Thomas Walther‘s prosecution in the 2010s of former Schutzstaffel agent Oskar Gröning, focusing in part on the ethical debate around whether there’s any useful purpose to be served in prosecuting an elderly man for crimes he committed 60 years earlier. (wiki)

Gröning decided to make his activities at Auschwitz public after learning about Holocaust denial. He openly criticised those who denied the events that he had witnessed and the ideology to which he had subscribed. Gröning was notable as a German willing to make public statements about his experience as an SS soldier, which were self-incriminating and which exposed his life to public scrutiny.

imdb   /   << 315 – Hannah Arendt (2012)

1677 – The Reader (2008)

timespace coordinates: Berlin, 1995 >> Neustadt West Germany, 1958

The Reader is a 2008 romantic drama film directed by Stephen Daldry and written by David Hare, based on the 1995 German (partly autobiographical) novel of the same name by Bernhard Schlink. It stars Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, and David Kross. It was the last film for producers Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack, both of whom died prior to its release.

The film tells the story of Michael Berg, a German lawyer who, as a 15-year-old in 1958, has an affair with an older woman, Hanna Schmitz. She disappears only to resurface years later as one of the defendants in a war crimes trial stemming from her actions as a guard at a Nazi concentration camp.  (wiki)

imdb

1600 – Alone in Berlin (2016)

timespace coordinates:  World War II-era Berlin (September 1940 – April 1943)

Alone in Berlin is a 2016 war drama film directed by Vincent Pérez, based on the 1947 non-fiction book Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada. The novel’s characters Otto and Anna Quangel are based on Otto and Elise Hampel.

When their son dies in France, the couple start writing postcards to urge people to protest against Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime. The film stars Emma Thompson, Brendan Gleeson, Daniel Brühl, and Mikael Persbrandt.

 The Irish Times wrote: “the film offers a fascinating and timely blueprint for political dissent, a methodology that connects with pamphleteering, graffiti, and memes.” (wiki)

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1570 – An American Pickle (2020)

spacetime coordinates: Schlupsk, Eastern Europe 1919 > present-day Brooklyn

An American Pickle is a 2020 American comedy-drama film directed by Brandon Trost (in his solo directorial debut) and written by Simon Rich, based on his 2013 short story “Sell Out”. The film stars Seth Rogen as an Ashkenazi Jew in the 1920s who gets preserved in a vat of pickles and wakes up in modern-day New York City, and attempts to fit in with the assistance of his last remaining descendant (also played by Rogen). Sarah Snook, Jorma Taccone, and Maya Erskine also star. (wiki)

imdb   /   rottentomatoes

1562 – Resistance (2020)

spacetime coordinates: 1938  – 1942 Munich, Nazi Germany > Strasbourg France> Limoges, Vichy > French Alps

Resistance is a 2020 biographical drama film written and directed by Jonathan Jakubowicz, inspired by the life of Marcel Marceau. It stars Jesse Eisenberg, Clémence Poésy, Matthias Schweighöfer, Alicia von Rittberg, Félix Moati, Géza Röhrig, Karl Markovics, Vica Kerekes, Bella Ramsey, Ed Harris and Édgar Ramírez. (wiki)

imdb   /   Klaus Barbie

1459 – Jojo Rabbit (2019)

timespace coordinates: Nazi Germany during the later stages of World War II

Jojo Rabbit is a 2019 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Taika Waititi (Hunt for the Wilderpeople, What We Do in the Shadows), based on Christine Leunens‘s book Caging Skies. Roman Griffin Davis portrays the title character, Johannes “Jojo” Betzler, a Hitler Youth member who finds out his mother (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding a Jewish girl (Thomasin McKenzie) in their attic. He must then question his beliefs, while dealing with the intervention of his imaginary friend, a fanciful version of Adolf Hitler (Waititi). The film also stars Rebel Wilson, Stephen Merchant, Alfie Allen, and Sam Rockwell. (wiki)

imdb   /   rottentomatoes

1415 – Uncut Gems (2019)

timespace coordinates: 2012  New York City‘s Diamond District

Uncut Gems is a 2019 American crime thriller film directed by Josh and Benny Safdie, (Good Time) who co-wrote the screenplay with Ronald Bronstein. The film stars Adam Sandler, Kevin Garnett, Idina Menzel, Lakeith Stanfield, Julia Fox, The Weeknd, and Eric Bogosian.

The plot follows Howard Ratner, a gambling addict in New York City’s Diamond District, who gets in over his head with loansharks and must retrieve an expensive gem he purchased in order to pay off his debts. (wiki)

“That’s a million dollar opal you’re holding. This is old school. Middle-earth shit. “

imdb   /   rt

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