How can young Israelis decide to move to Germany or Austria, given the historical issues Jews faced there? Back to the Fatherland gives us a look at a few of those young people—and their grandparents—to try to find some insight into the possibility to finding a future that overcomes history. The film opens with the… [Read More]
The Last Suit – Road Trip to Grace
Watching the film, I constantly wondered why these people would respond to Abraham with kindness when he was always so mean-spirited. But then that is what makes it grace.
Day 5 at NBFF
I began Tuesday by watching Cardinals, a film directed by Grayson Moore and Aidan Shipley that was the Canadian Spotlight film on Friday night, . It is the story of a woman who has returned home after years in prison after being convicted of killing her neighbor in a drunk driving accident. But soon the… [Read More]
Bye Bye Germany – Moving to Life
the opening shot of Bye Bye Germany, we watch a three-legged dog happily trotting through a street that turns out to be in a post-war displaced persons camp in Frankfort. While that dog has next to nothing to do with the plot of this light-hearted (yet not quite comic) tale, it makes for an interesting way to understand the characters we meet.
In the Fade – Justice? Revenge?
Justice. Revenge. Are they the same? Are they even related? In the Fade from Fatih Akin is the story of a search for justice, and what happens when that justice is denied.
Frantz – Is It Ever Right to Lie?
The foundation of the story is the devastation that war brings. Everyone in this story suffers from the war. Anna and Frantz’s parents (and many of the townspeople) grieve the loss of the young men killed in the war.
Anthropoid – The Romance and Reality of Heroism
Heroism. Patriotism. Futility. Is it possible to celebrate the two virtues and still recognize that sometimes the end result may seem a bit tarnished?
Germans & Jews: Can They Live Together?
Does it seem odd that the fastest growing Jewish community in Europe is found in Berlin? When filmmaker Tal Recanati (a Jewish American) traveled to Germany and found a vibrant Jewish community that has grown in the seventy years since the Holocaust, she thought there was a story here that needed to be discovered.
