Following the death of his father, Israeli documentary filmmaker David Fisher discovered the diary that his father Joseph kept during the harrowing times he spent in a labor camp during World War II.
Synopsis
Joseph Fisher’s memoir was discovered only after his death. His children refused to confront it, except for David, the filmmaker, for whom it became a compass for a long journey. When he found it unbearable to be alone in the wake of his father’s survival story and his struggle not to lose his sanity, David convinced his brothers and sister to join him in the hope that this would also contribute to releasing tensions and making them as close as they used to be. They, for their part, couldn’t understand why anyone should want to dig into the past instead of enjoying life in the present. In the dark depths of the tunnels, part of an Austrian forced labor camp, where their father had slaved during the Holocaust, illuminated only by flashlights, the Fishers seek meaning in their personal and family histories.
About the Director
Born in Israel (1956), graduated the Tel-Aviv University Film school, Fisher is one of Israel’s leading documentary filmmakers. His films – The Round Number, Street Shadows, Six Million and One, Mostar Round-Trip, Buried Alive and Shepherds Affair – reveal humanistic issues of modern times marked by a personal and daring POV. The critically acclaimed “Love Inventory” (PBS ‘Independent Lens’, BBC Storyville) won him the 2000 Israeli Film Academy Award – “A gem that does the Israeli cinema proud” wrote Emanuel Levy (Variety). Fisher served on the juries of international festivals, including: BAFICI, IDFA, HotDocs, Leipzig, Karlovy Vary and the European Film Academy. As director of The New Foundation for Cinema (1999-2008), he helped bring Israeli documentaries to international recognition. A NEH grantee with the project “To Be Or Not To Be in Yiddish” Fisher was an Artist in Residence at Yale and a scholar in residence at Wesleyan university.
Year
2011
Runtime
93 minutes
Director
David Fisher
Associate Producer
Irit Shimrat
Cinematography
Ronen Mayo
Trailer
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