''Route to Paradise'' is a 2020 British

short Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...

documentary film written, produced and directed by Thomas Gardner. The film follows a team of archaeologists from Staffordshire University as they attempt to uncover the former Calgarth Estate, the site where 300 Jewish children were re-located to after being liberated from Nazi Germany's concentration camps during the Holocaust.

Development

During Christmas 2018, artist and curator

Trevor Avery Trevor Avery is an artist, curator and producer who has been based in London, the Highlands of Scotland, and is now in the North West of England. Career Trevor Avery serves as director of Another Space, which initiated and now produces the ...

approached filmmaker Thomas Gardner to make a film about the excavation and surveying of the former Calgarth Estate. An appeal was later released into the press for stories and photographs pertaining to the survivors from local residents who had been around during their time in the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or ''fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...

. The planned dig had been given the go ahead after being funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Production

Principal photography began early February 2019 in Oświęcim, Poland at

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

. Production was then moved back to the UK, where the crew spent two weeks filming on the grounds at

The Lakes School The Lakes School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in Troutbeck Bridge, Windermere, in the English county of Cumbria. It is a comprehensive community school administered by Westmorland and Furness Council. Its catch ...

with the archaeologists when the excavation began on July 15, 2019, then travelled to Nottingham to interview Norman Shepherd, a flight engineer with RAF Squadron 196. He was on the flight that brought the Windermere Children to England and is the last surviving member of the crew for that flight. The film was shot over a period of 5 months, featuring interviews with

Arek Hersh Arek Hersh, (born 13 September 1928) is a survivor of the Holocaust. Early life and World War II Arek Hersh (Herszlikowicz - הרשליקוביץ׳) was born in Sieradz, Poland on 13 September 1928. He was the son of a bootmaker for the Poli ...

and Sam Gontarz, two of the 300 children who had been liberated from concentration camps and re-settled in England. The main bulk of the footage came from survivor testimonies intertwined with footage from the excavation/survey of the Calgarth Estate, headed by forensic archaeologist

Caroline Sturdy Colls Caroline Sturdy Colls (born 1985) is a Professor of Conflict Archaeology and Genocide Investigation at Staffordshire University specializing in Holocaust studies, identification of human remains, forensic archaeology and crime scene investigati ...

who is most famous for her forensic examination of the Treblinka extermination camp. It was released on YouTube in 2020.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Route to Paradise British documentary films Documentary films about the Holocaust Holocaust films 2020 short documentary films 2020 films 2020s English-language films 2020s British films English-language short documentary films