Germany 2012-2014, documentary film, HD, 90 min. Featuring Greta Klingsberg, Uta Plate and the young actors of the “Zwiefachen” at the Schaubühne Berlin. Directed by: Douglas Wolfsperger, cinematography by: Frank Amann, Igor Luther. Cinema/WDR/Arte
And now we’re supposed to deal with National Socialism too? The young actors and actresses of the theater troupe “Die Zwiefachen” reinterpret the children’s opera “Brundibar” that was staged in the Theresienstadt Ghetto. Greta Klingsberg, a survivor from the ghetto, sang the lead role at the time. Now she travels back to Theresienstadt with the young actors to show them how and where the piece was staged. For many of the actors and actresses, it is an unfamiliar, foreign experience. They are also, as director Uta Plate puts it, youths who are carrying a few too many kilos of baggage through life. In other words, youths who had to take on much too much responsibility much too early, who have been confronted with violence, intolerance and abuse.
Nominated for the 2014 Prix Europa, German premiere at the Hof International Film Festival 2014, Filmfest Biberach “Golden Beaver for Best Documentary”, Berlin premiere: 28.11.2014 at the Schaubühne, cinema release date: 4 December 2014
Press coverage for “Brundibar Revisited”: “Out of the evolving relationships between the charismatic elderly lady (Greta Klingsberg) and the still searching but increasingly open young actors and actresses, Wolfsperger manages to maintain documentary distance while forging the emotional sparks normally found in feature film. Wolfsperger succeeds in releasing us from the cinema in a deeply moved state.” Rolf-Ruediger Hamacher in Filmecho/Filmwoche (PDF)
“How can we approach the Holocaust in this day and age? With films like this. Brundibar is a quiet, moving film that also raises the big questions surrounding the Holocaust.” Miriam Hollstein in Die Welt
“A film that goes straight to the soul.” Barbara Sohler in the Schwäbische Zeitung