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GERMANS & JEWS Send This Review to a Friend
Today there are an estimated 250,000 Jews living in Germany, and inevitably there is wonder about what such residents feel about living in the country responsible for the Holocaust. One also might wonder about what non-Jewish Germans feel about the Jews in their midst.
In the years when I attended the Berlin International Film Festival I had thoughts about Germany’s past and how people viewed it over time. I soon found non-Jews with whom I became friends, individuals who were too young to have have anything to do with the horror that took place. In fact, they thoroughly rejected that past, and one friend made a point of taking me to museums dedicated to showing the evil that occurred. It is also a fact that modern Germany has worked hard to make up for the past.
Janina Quint and Tal Recanati have joined to explore the situation in Germany today by eliciting conversations with Jews and non-Jews to get their opinions and experiences on record in their thoughtful documentary “Germans & Jews.” The result is informative and absorbing. We get to meet a wide variety of of people, Jews and non-Jews, who shed light on attitudes.
Especially evocative is a dinner party at which the mixed guests sound off on explored topics. Be prepared to listen and learn and evaluate the experiences and opinions that surface. The filmmakers hit on a nifty idea and have pursued it with intelligence and dedication. A First Run Features release. Reviewed June 10, 2016.
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