Canada 2024, 105 min, English and German, Hebrew & English subtitles
In 2018, roughly four weeks before its scheduled opening, an art exhibition at Düsseldorf’s City Museum was abruptly canceled. This sudden move was the flashpoint in a long-simmering controversy that was more than a mere legal battle—it was political dynamite: the question of the rightful ownership of artworks plundered by the Nazis during World War II. Like the exhibition, the film centers on the case of Max Stern, a German-Jewish art dealer coerced into liquidating his business and his determined heirs, now spearheading the fight for restitution and historical recognition. Peppered with exclusive interviews and rare archival footage, this fast-paced doc contains all the ingredients of a good crime thriller: mystery, protagonists, antagonists, and a lot of money. It delivers a thorough and ironic examination of the ethical dilemmas surrounding the fate of the possessions and artifacts left behind during the war, poignantly described by some as “the last prisoners of the war.”
Previous Festivals: UKJFF, Hong Kong Jewish Film Festival, Miami Jewish Film Festival, New York Jewish Film Festival, Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, Miami Jewish Film Festival, Boca International Jewish Film Festival, JCC Chicago Jewish Film Festival, New Jersey Jewish Film Festival
