Press

Dear press representatives,
we appreciate your interest in our film DREI SÖHNE.
Here you will find texts, photos and the poster for free download. If you use something, please send us a message using our contact form.
We are also available for an interview.

Adrian Kutter, artistic director of the 39th Biberacher Film Festival 2017

“Some will say another Holocaust film, but it’s so different. First and foremost, of course, a film against forgetting. But also a film that encourages, touches and shows and tells things from a completely different perspective. And above all – it is very exceptional in film. Having found three such wonderful sons, plus a surviving mother and other important protagonists, is a great treasure. And what they tell is fascinating and exciting. It is not only the narrative level that makes this film so valuable, but also the image level and the sound level. A very nice camera, wonderful photo montages, enriched by alienation. A perfect sound level with the music of Szymon Laks. And ultimately an outstanding assembly that artfully connects the different levels. “

Bettina Buchler, FBW

“A calm film of enormous strength and depth.”

Kathrin Schwedler, Journalist, Wiesbaden:

“In her documentary, Birgit-Karin Weber looks at concentration camp survivors through the eyes of their children. This is a contribution to the current discussion on how the handling of the “legacy” of victims and perpetrators can and should continue. The special thing about this film is the discovery of three artists. The Slovak painter Adolf Frankl devoted himself physically and psychologically to his glaring expressionist memories (cycle “Visions from the Inferno”). The Frenchman Szymon Laks (conductor of the Auschwitz Birkenau II men’s orchestra) continued to compose after the war, but retired completely to his home country in private life. The German Anita Lasker-Wallfisch (cellist in the Auschwitz girls’ orchestra) vigorously continued her career as a cellist in London.

The German Anita Lasker-Wallfisch (cellist in the Auschwitz girls’ orchestra) vigorously continued her career as a cellist in London.

The production by the Wiesbaden-based media group Greb & Neckermann gives the subject, its protagonists and above all art more space than is known from the current documentaries on the Holocaust theme, where today a lurid poster in sound, image and exhibited emotion primarily aims to make an impact. A film that lets you see and hear about an indestructible memory space that lives on for itself no matter what happens. ”

http://www.fbw-filmbewertung.com/film/drei_soehne

http://www.wiesbadener-kurier.de/lokales/kultur/lokale-kultur/caligari-drei-soehne-von-birgit-karin-weber-ist-eine-beeindruckende-dokumentation_17418764.htm?reload=1

https://lippischegesellschaft.wordpress.com/2017/10/13/ein-beruehrender-film-drei-soehne/

http://www.lz.de/lippe/lemgo/21903763_Lemgo-bleibt-die-Simon-Laks-Hochburg.html

Synopsis

Three sons from different families and countries but one similarity: they are children of artists who survived Auschwitz. The way how the sons of the so-called Second Generation handle their inheritance is very different. But something they have in common: they can’t evade dealing with their parents’ fateful history.

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Another Holocaust film some will say, but this one is different. Of course it is primarily a film about remembrance. But also a film which inspires courage touches the heart and shows the events from a different perspective. And most of all – it is an exceptional cinematic presentation:

The film looks through the eyes of the following generation on the history of the survivors. The second generation has to keep the memories alive when the last eye witness has died. No easy task in an ever-changing world.

Raphael Wallfisch, an internationally famed cellist from London, André Laks, philosophy professor from Paris, and Thomas Frankl, gallery owner in Vienna, have one thing in common: each has one parent who survived Auschwitz. The parents were artists: Anita Lasker-Wallfisch (cellist in the girls‘ orchestra in Auschwitz and later co-founder of the British Chamber Orchestra), the French/Polish composer Szymon Laks (conductor of the men’s orchestra in Auschwitz) and the painter Adolf Frankl (he painted the picture cycle „Visions from the Inferno“ after the liberation from Auschwitz). Their legacy for their sons was not only their history but also exceptional pieces of art: a ray of hope among the dark past. Each of the sons has found his own way to handle this legacy: ranging from not-being-able-to-let-go to open confrontation.

At the same time the film pays homage to the wonderful, long forgotten music by André’s father, the composer Szymon Laks.

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THREE SONS is not one of the usual Holocaust films. It tries to find new ways to show the past and views it through the eyes of the so-called second generation. At the same time the film pays homage to the musical work of Szymon Lak which has finally been rediscovered independent from the commemorative culture:

When the last survivor has died the darkest chapter of German history is not over. It has repercussions on the next generations. Especially on the so-called second generation: They have grown up among the deep silence, raised by people who have been traumatized, openly or suppressed. At first glance this generation lives a perfectly normal live, only a second look reveals the fractures and insecurities in dealing with the parents and their experiences.

The musician Raphael Wallfisch had a mostly unencumbered childhood. His mother (Anita Lasker-Wallfisch survived Auschwitz as cellist in the girls‘ orchestra) managed in her tough and pragmatic way to speak about the horrors but to at the same time reducing the drama. The shared love for music was a wonderful unifying and deflecting way of coping.

The case of André Laks, son of Szymon Laks (French/Polish composer and conductor of the men’s orchestra in Auschwitz II Birkenau, died 1983) is different. Here the son had to deal with a disillusioned uprooted artist who simply lacked the energy to continue the successful career he had before WWII.

Thomas Frankl’s father, the painter Adolf Frankl (died 1983) used his series of paintings „Visionen aus dem Inferno“ (“Visions from the inferno”) to process and express his feelings which lasted the rest of his life. As a child Thomas had nightmares about the horrors depicted in those painting and as an adult he first needed to distance himself from his father.

The survivorsare present in the film: Anita Lasker-Wallfisch who in spite of her advanced age tours to speak to young people as eye witness. Szymon Laks is remembered in his wonderful music which meshes with the paintings by Adolf Frankl.

Even if each of the three sons uses a very different approach to deal with his parent’s history and heritage, there are still similarities: All three manage – sometimes only after their father’s death – to find an approach to their parent’s history as well as the art. How they administer their parents’ artistic heritage which efforts they make is part of their coping process in their own history.

The film accompanies the three sons in this process and conveys the viewer deep insights in the thoughts and feeling of the second generation. Because especially they, as witnesses for eye witnesses, have the crucial task not only to administer the artistic work of their parents but to also keep it alive.

In view of the ongoing refugee crisis and the slaughter in Africa and the Near East it becomes clear that dealing with the aftermath of persecution, segregation and displacement has an impact on the following generations. At the same time it is obvious that today’s commemorative culture has to adapt while its form and expression is always changing.

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Pictures

© Birgit-Karin Weber, Matthias Weber

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