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Winter Journey
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Winter Journey
IDFA 2019

Winter Journey

Anders Ostergaard
Denmark, Germany
2019
90 min
World Premiere
Festival history

The Winter Journey is based on American radio host Martin Goldsmith’s book about his Jewish parents, who fled Nazi Germany. Both were talented musicians, but after the Nuremberg Laws were enacted in 1935 they were only able to perform as members of the Jewish Cultural Federation, a bizarre propaganda organization fully controlled by the Reich Chamber of Culture.

This film brings to life the reality of their beautiful and painful love story, using remarkable and ingenuously edited archive material. It also includes reenactments of the conversations Martin Goldsmith had with his father in preparation for his book. The dynamic that emerges in the interaction between Goldsmith himself as the unseen interviewer and a vulnerable Bruno Ganz as his father is fascinating. On one occasion Ganz even references his legendary role as Hitler in Downfall, when his Goldsmith, Sr., mimics the agitated Nazi official who stamps his visa. In ways like this, the story transcends its modest place in the history of the war.

Credits
Director
Production
    Mette Heide for Plus Pictures,
    Thomas Kufus for Zero One Film GmbH,
    Tassilo Aschauer for Zero One Film GmbH
    Mette Heide for Plus Pictures,
    Thomas Kufus for Zero One Film GmbH,
    Tassilo Aschauer for Zero One Film GmbH
Cinematography
    Henner Besuch
    Henner Besuch
Sound
    Dominik Schleier
    Dominik Schleier
Sound Design
    Dominik Schleier
    Dominik Schleier
Involved TV Channel
    NDR,
    DR TV,
    YLE,
    Sveriges Television
    NDR,
    DR TV,
    YLE,
    Sveriges Television
Screening copy
    Danish Film Institute
    Danish Film Institute
World Sales
    Plus Pictures
    Plus Pictures