Six Million and One
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93 min. DCP/HD, Israel-Germany-Austria co-production, Hebrew/English/German (English and Hebrew subtitles) The film is being theaterically released in Israel through the Lev Cinema chain IDFA feature-length competition 2011 and top 10 in the Audience Choices Opening film Crossing Europe FF Austria 2012! "A unique family, atmosphere and location, in a very unique film." (Yehuda Stav, "filmmaker David Fisher makes an extraordinary journey with his brothers and sister to Gusen in (Melanie Goodfellow, IDFA daily,
"A heartbreaking and wryly humane film… Fisher's documentary, as indicated by its title, is a new twist on the over-worn truism that the devil is in the details.The film is a journey, like many others. But there’s an original and a subtle assessment of memory in Six Million and One. There’s one unforgettable shot in which a view of the concentration camp dissolves slowly into a row of neatly-kept houses in the same location. It takes you from the apocalyptic to the eerily ordinary... The Fishers joke, kibitz and quarrel... We’re reminded that history and memory require an active discussion among the later generations... A film, which seems destined for an extended life."
(David D'Arcy on Film, Art Info blog, New-York -
"In one of the most beautiful scenes in the film, the Fishers are seated inside the tunnel dug by the Jews and created as an underground factory for the Nazis' aircrafts… Why is it important to remember? This is the question that concerns not only David and his brothers, but also all of us. Because of this universal question the film managed to fill the movie theaters in (Eliane Brum, 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. As their deepest pains are exposed, they find themselves crying and laughing, in bitter-sweet scenes that give this personal film a rare sense of intimacy. . |
Camera: Ronen Mayo, Claudio Steinberg, Ronen Schechner
Sound recordists: Amos Zipori, Frank Kubitsky
Editor: Hadas Ayalon
Artistic Advisor: Noit Geva
Original score: Ran Bagno
Sound design: Gil Toren
Sales: Philippa Kowarsky, Cinephil
Head Researcher and Associate Producer: Irit Shimrat
Produced for ZDF/Arte, YES Docu Israel, with the support of the New Foundation for Cinema and Television Israel, The Future Fund, Austria, The Cultural Office of Upper Austria, the Nationalfonds Austria and The Claims Conference.
Articles and reviews
Gusen related links:
Life Hanging on a Spider Web - From Auschwitz-Zasole To Gusen II/A book by Karl Littner and Rudolf A. Haunschmied (ed.)
400 JAHRE MARKT ST. GEORGEN AN DER GUSEN - NS-Geschichte - Zum Gedenken an die Opfer des Nationalsozialismus/A book by Rudolf A. Haunschmied
ST. GEORGEN-GUSEN-MAUTHAUSEN - Concentration Camp Mauthausen Reconsidered/A book by Rudolf A. Haunschmied, Jan-Ruth Mills and Siegi Witzany-Durda