Adam and Ida were three years old when they were separated during the Holocaust. Adam survived a concentration camp and was later adopted. Ida survived the war hidden by a Polish couple.
Background
For the first time in their life, Adam and Ida Paluch tell their story to a German film crew. It is an incredible tale about a lifelong quest about identity, loss and the search for belonging – told through interviews and animations illustrating the Jewish twin’s only vague memories. Adam and Ida were three years old when they were separated during the Holocaust. Adam survived a concentration camp and was later adopted. Ida survived the war hidden by a Polish couple. Both children were baptized, issued a fake birth certificate with new names and grew up Catholic. It seemed all but impossible that they would ever reunite. However, the twins always felt “something missing”. Following a 53-year long journey that took them around the globe, one day Ida believes to recognize her brother on a newspaper photo resembling her grandfather. When the two strangers meet, they are convinced to have found each other at last. “We know it is us”, says Ida. Is it a happy end? Can history be overcome?
About the Director
Jan Tenhaven is an award-winning writer and director of documentaries and non-fiction television programs. He has a passion for exploring the stories of most fascinating people in our society and telling their personal stories in a respectful and unique way. Jan learned his craft through roles at a number of television station as a writer, reporter, and short documentary filmmaker. With his very first theatrical, feature-length documentary Autumn Gold Jan received a number of awards, including the Filmmakers Award at the Hot Docs Film Festival 2010 in Toronto, the IDFA Youth Jury Award at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam 2010, and the Grand Prize of the Jury at the Guangzhou International Documentary Festival 2010 in China and numerous Audience Awards around the world. Outside of his job, he is involved as a parent representative at the Jewish high school Moses Mendelssohn in Berlin.
Year
2022
Runtime
1 hour
Director
Jan Tenhaven
Writers
Tilman Müller and Jan Tenhaven
Trailer
