Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
: הדירה) is a 2011 feature documentary film, an Israeli–German co-production written and directed by Arnon Goldfinger. It was theatrically released in Israel in September 2011. It played continuously for thirteen months and has received rave reviews. '' Time Out Tel Aviv'' chose to place the film at the top of its recommended films for 49 weeks under the headline: "not to be missed" and chose it as one of the 25 most important art works from around the world for 2011. ''The Flat'' was theatrically released in Germany in June 2012. The German version of the film features the voice of renowned German actor
Axel Milberg
Axel Theodor Klaus Milberg (born 1 August 1956) is a German actor. His most prominent role is that of ''Tatort'' investigator Klaus Borowski.
Selected filmography
* ''After Five in the Forest Primeval'' (1995)
* ' (1996)
* ''Father's Day'' (1 ...
taking on the role of narrator Arnon Goldfinger. ''The Flat'' was theatrically released in USA in October 2012 and was theatrically released in Hungary in April 2015.
The film won the 2012 Best Editing in a Documentary Feature Award in the
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...
World Documentary Competition. It was the opening film at Dok Munich in 2012.''The Flat'' at Tribeca Film Festival website The flat was one of the final three nominees for the German Academy Film Awards 2013 ("Lola"). China kino, German film Awards 2013 nominations, and nominated for the German TV Grimme Awards 2014.
Plot
The film opens as the director and members of his family are gathered in the apartment of his mother's mother, Gerda Tuchler, a short while after her death, to clear out the contents. His grandmother lived in the same apartment for 70 years, ever since she and her husband, Kurt, left Nazi Germany in the 1930s and immigrated to Mandatory Palestine.
It is not long, however, before Goldfinger finds various items in his grandmother's house that reveal an astonishing chapter in the family's history – a chapter that had been kept under wraps for decades.When to tell, how to tell, whether to tell Nirit Anderman, 5 September 2011 ''
Haaretz
''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...
''
Goldfinger gradually discovers that his grandparents had a close personal relationship with a high Nazi official, Leopold von Mildenstein, head of the SS Office for Jewish Affairs (prior to
Der Angriff
''Der Angriff'' (in English "The Attack") is a discontinued German language newspaper founded in 1927 by the Berlin Gau of the Nazi Party. The last edition was published on 24 April 1945.
History
The newspaper was set up by Joseph Goebbels, w ...
' (founded by
Joseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 19 ...
). Mildenstein resumed his friendship with the Tuchlers after the war.The Washington Post /ref>The Flat by Arnon Goldfinger ''Aelet Dekel'', 10 September 2011 Midnight East
Production
After his grandmother's death Arnon Goldfinger began, all alone, to film the clearing out of his grandmother's flat. By chance Goldfinger met cinematographer Talya (Tulik) Galon, who lives not far from his grandmother's flat, and told her about the flat. She helped with the cinematography (Philip Bellaiche entered the production later on). They filmed the family rummaging through closets, the items with their old-fashioned European flavor that were pulled out one after another – and the dozens of garbage bags that filled up quickly. But Goldfinger and the others did not know exactly what they were looking for. And then it happened: Suddenly among the cartons of gloves and shoes, the fox furs and the purses, the books and the boxes with letters – a pile of old German newspapers appeared. Goldfinger did not imagine that this would be the first clue that would lead him on an emotional journey that would be both upsetting and confusing, and that would reveal a family history that for years had been repressed and hidden. At that point the research broadened and new characters emerged, unexpected ones. The crew expanded until the point that the film became a German-Israeli coproduction with Zero One Film coming on board as co-producers.
Goldfinger worked for five years till finishing the film that is being supported by New Israeli Foundation for Cinema and Television, , Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Deutscher Filmförderfonds with
ARTE
Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture.
It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plus ...
,
ZDF
ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...
Jerusalem Film Festival
The Jerusalem Film Festival ( he, פסטיבל הקולנוע ירושלים, ar, مهرجان القدس السينمائي) is an international film festival held annually in Jerusalem, It was established in 1984 by the Director of the Jerusal ...
in July 2011. The film was screened in
35mm 35 mm may refer to:
* 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film
* 35 mm movie film, a type of motion picture film stock
* 35MM 35 mm may refer to:
* 135 film, a type of still photography format ...
and in the review following the screening, film critic Avner Shavit called ''The Flat'' "one of the best Israeli documentaries ever made". He added that "one of the most exciting documents on the
Shoah
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ar ...
. The audience at the theater yesterday were overwhelmed by the experience".
Both screenings during the festival were sold out and quite a few critics claimed that ''The Flat'' was the best Israeli film at the festival.Tablet daily online magazine of Jewish news The film won the prize for best director of a documentary film at the Jerusalem Film Festival, with the jury reasoning: "This is a beautifully composed film about uncomfortable truths and the challenge of confronting them. Mr. Goldfinger undertakes expert research and leads us through his findings in a way that is not only gentle and sensitive, but also compelling and creative".Jury remarks at the Jerusalem Film festival 2011 /ref>
A month and half later, in September 2011, the film was theatrically released. At first the film was only screened twice a week in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. All of these screenings were sold out. On the heels of this success it was decided to expand the release to additional parts of the country. ''The Flat'' has been playing continuously for eight months and has become the third most viewed Israeli film of 2011. In his review in the leading Israeli newspaper Yediot Achronot, film critic Yehuda Stav gave the film 5 stars and said the following: "Arnon Goldfinger's spellbinding work ''The Flat'' is one of the most intriguing and important documentary films made in Israel in the last decade. This is not only because of its unbelievable subject matter, but because of its meticulous weaving, its artistry of filmmaking and above all because of the complexity of issues that are addressed and the deep emotional impact they have on the viewer."
Awards
*
Ophir Award
The Ophir Awards ( he, פרס אופיר), colloquially known as the Israeli Oscars or the Israeli Academy Awards, are film awards for excellence in the Israeli film industry awarded by the Israeli Academy of Film and Television. The award, named ...
:
** Best Documentary (won)
*
Bavarian Film Award
The Bavarian Film Awards (german: Bayerischer Filmpreis) have been awarded annually since 1979 by the states of Germany, state government of Bavaria in Germany for “exceptional achievement in German filmmaking.” Along with the Deutscher Filmp ...
Haaretz
''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...