An Apartment in Berlin

This film, meant as a journey to the past for the three protagonists, turns out to be a multifaceted and astonishing experience for all parties, even the director. Connected by their shared history, the director and the young Israelis develop a new understanding of each other.

Year

2013

Length

80 min

Director

Alice Agneskirchner

Almost 100 young Israelis were interested in a film project dealing with Jewish-German history. In order to retrace the common past, director Alice Agneskirchner researched the life of the Jewish egg seller family Adler – using both archives and the advice of historian Karolin Steinke. Over 100 years ago, in 1905, Simon and Rosa Adler came to Berlin from Polish Galicia to make a better life. The three protagonists, Eyal, Yoav and Yael, live in Berlin today and embark on a journey to the past.

The bureaucratic machinery of Nazi-Germany encompassed a wealth assessment office. Every Jew, prior to his deportation, had to fill out a 16-page long form stating all his belongings. The idea was to make a maximum profit out of the deportations. The completely preserved wealth assessment protocol of Simon and Rosa Adler from 1943 is the starting point of the investigation. Following the information given in the protocol, the three young Israelis try to refurnish the Adlers’ apartment in Berlin Prenzlauer Berg the way it might have appeared when they still lived.

Each of the three Israelis has a different motivation to participate in the film project. They hope for new perspectives, a journey into the unknown, a personal challenge. However, while they study the files and historic furniture, the film takes a surprising turn.

Credits

Written & directed by
Alice Agneskirchner

Historical Consultant
Karolin Steinke

Director of Photography
Jan Zabeil

Editor
Melanie Margalith

Sound Recordist
Manuel Zimmer

Composer
Maciej Siedziecki

Line Producer
Kathrin Isberner

Production Manager
Nick Pastucha

Executive Producer
Kerstin Meyer-Beetz
Georg Tschurtschenthaler

Producer
Christian Beetz

Commissioning Editors
Udo Bremer (ZDF/3sat)
Rolf Bergmann (rbb)

Sales & distribution

Trailer

„Just in diesem Moment überraschen uns die aus dem Theaterbereich stammenden jungen Regisseure Hans Block und Moritz Riesewieck mit einem erstaunlichen Dokumentarfilm, der seit Monaten Publikum und Kritik auf den wichtigsten Festivals der Welt elektrisiert. Völlig zu Recht: Es ist, als würden einem die Scheuklappen weggerissen, als sähe man das, was sich seit Jahren direkt vor unseren Augen abspielt, zum ersten Mal unverschleiert... eine fesselnde ,Doku noir' mit höchstem Anspruch...Dieser Film müsste an allen Schulen gezeigt werden.“

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

17.05.2018