The Exchange

Synopsis

Early 2000s. A notary in Milan is commissioned by a Swiss bank to locate the heirs of Giovanni Janowitz. Nathan Giannotti-in addition to discovering that his family changed surname during World War II-thus realizes that his grandfather opened a safe deposit box at a Swiss bank before being deported and dying at Auschwitz. Inside, Nathan finds only a receipt dated “Florence, 1938”: it certifies THE EXCHANGE of a Canaletto for an Otto Dix painting but, above all, that document attests to a “forced sale” from the Nazi era. With the help of two professionals, Lorenzo and Valentina, highly complex investigation begins to find the masterpiece. Wonderful locations provide the backdrop for the investigation: the Kunsthistorisches Institut and the archives of the Boboli Export Office in Florence; the Jeude Paume (with Rose Valland’s precious records) and the ERR Project in Paris; the Munich Collecting Point archives and the BAVD in Berlin. Throughout the investigation, the story of an unknown elderly man occasionally emerges; a man whose existence came to light for European authorities only in 2012, after decades of impenetrable obscurity. Two narrative threads are inevitably destined to collide. Two destinies, two eras, a single buried truth.

About the Director

Gabriele Guidi

Son of important international artists, after a period of activity in the financial sector (London and Zurich), he began his artistic career at the end of the 1990s, staging prestigious theatrical and musical productions (Milan Arcimboldi Theatre, Verona Arena, Carlo Felice Theatre in Genova, La Fenice Theater in Venice, Teatro Sistina in Rome), bringing his productions to major festivals such as “La Versiliana”, “Due Mondi Spoleto”, “Mi-To”, with important artists including Proietti, Morricone, Glass, Bacalov. After several theatrical directorial roles, he made his debut as a film director with “Terezin” (2022), a co-production between Italy (Minerva Pictures) and the Czech Republic (Three Brothers), supported by Italian Ministry of Culture and Rai Cinema. The movie had its international premiere at “Miami Jewish Film Festival”, then distributed in Italy, United States, Czech Republic and China (available on Apple TV, Prime Video, Comcast, Verizon, Time Warner). The soundtrack was distributed by Universal Music.

Artistic Statement

The extraordinary work carried out by the 345 members of the “Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives” commission between 1943 and 1951 made it possible to recover more than five million works of art, but it was not enough, because the issue of “Raubkunst” (looted art) is still very relevant. This is proven by the more than 600,000 works taken by force or through blackmail from collectors, dealers, and families, which are still missing or hidden, even in many museum storerooms around the world. These premises help to understand the importance of this movie. The story of Cornelius Gurlitt is absolutely incredible and is the spark that inspired the adaptation of the book. A man with an impenetrable existence: almost nothing was known about him, and reconstructing his profile was like putting together a puzzle made of many distant yet interconnected fragments. The profile that emerges in the end outlines a character as paradoxical as he is fascinating. This movie, halfway between “spy story” and “biographical”, also allows us to discover some institutions that work in the shadows with the goal of recovering lost masterpieces. Because even though 80 years have passed, in the universe of art… the Second World War is not yet over!