The Commandant's Shadow

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BBFC Ratingf-rated FilmThe Commandant's Shadow

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Certificate12A
Year2024
GenreDocumentary
Director(s)Daniela Volker
Writer(s)Daniela Volker
LanguageEnglish, German
CountryUSA, Israel, Poland, UK, Germany
Running Time1HR 39MINS
Extra InfoPartially subtitled
SeasonMain Programme

Screening to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day (27 Jan), The Commandant's Shadow is filmmaker Daniela Völker’s timely and poignant documentary following Hans Jürgen Höss, the 87-year-old son of Rudolf Höss, as he faces his father’s terrible legacy for the first time.

Two lives. Two stories. One wall that divided them. Hans Jürgen Höss's father was the Camp Commandant of Auschwitz and masterminded the murder of over a million Jews; the life of Höss and his family was recently fictionalised in the Academy Award-winning The Zone of Interest. While Hans Jurgen enjoyed a happy childhood in the family villa at Auschwitz, Jewish prisoner Anita Lasker-Wallfisch was trying to survive the notorious concentration camp. At the heart of this film is the historic and inspiring moment - eight decades later - when the two come face-to-face.

This once-in-a-lifetime feature-length documentary explores the relationships of a mother and her daughter, a father and his son, and the long shadows cast by the crimes that impact generations. It raises questions about love, guilt, and forgiveness, but is ultimately a much needed story of hope, acceptance, and compassion.

"An amazing and dramatic historical tableau - ★★★★★" - Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian



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