A Deal With the Devil (dir: Avida Livny; prod: Ayelet Ephrati) is a history of the agreement signed a few months after the Nazi party’s rise to power in 1933 that permitted German Jews to emigrate to Palestine and retain part of the value of the property they left behind. The agreement, through which tens of thousands of Jews fled Germany, remained in effect until the outbreak of World War II in 1939.
Art Spiegelman: Disaster is My Muse! (dir: Molly Bernstein, Philip Dolin, prod: Alicia Sams, Sam Jinishian) explores the life and career of cartoonist Art Spiegelman and the creation and impact of his groundbreaking Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel Maus, the story of his parents’ survival of the Holocaust and his own struggle to come to terms with this legacy.
Neshoma (dir: Sandra Beerends, prod: Floor Onrust) brings prewar Jewish Amsterdam to life, through archival material and voiceover by the fictional character of Rusha, who tells the story of her family and friends. The documentary, at the intersection of fiction and history, is inspired by the Jewish community’s testimonies about their lives before World War II.
The Stamp Thief (dir: Dan Sturman, prod: Dylan Nelson, Gary Gilbert, Dan Sturman) follows director Dan Sturman, as he learns of a treasure trove of priceless stamps stolen by a Nazi officer from concentration camp victims and buried in a house in Poland. Employing an Argo-like fake-movie ruse, he and his team set out to find the treasure, but run into complications they never expected.
More here.
4 Films at 33rd Toronto International Jewish Film Festival
