HERR ZWILLING UND FRAU ZUCKERMANN
Germany 1999 – Director: Volker Koepp – Original language: German – Length: 127 min.
“Every evening I have to tell him that life is not as bad as it looks.” Herr Zwilling visits Frau Zuckermann every day. The 70-year-old pessimist brings bad tidings; his optimistic 90-year-old host tries to cheer him up. They belong to the few surviving Jews who managed to evade the persecution of the Nazis and still live today in the town of Czernowitz in Western Ukraine, once a centre of Jewish culture. They tell of times gone by, common experiences and the fate of their loved ones. They talk about politics, literature and everyday worries. Volker Koepp not only succeeds in paying an affectionate tribute to the pair but also in depicting a contemporary landscape where Jewish culture was a firm feature before two World Wars and the National Socialists’ obsession with race swept it away.
German title: Herr Zwilling und Frau Zuckermann. Writer: Volker Koepp, Barbara Frankenstein. Camera: Thomas Plenert. Sound: Uve Haussig. Editing: Angelika Arnold. Production: x. Producer: x. Distribution: Edition Salzgeber.
