PHOTOGRAPHER

POLISH TITLE: FOTOAMATOR

In 1987, 400 color slides were found at a second hand bookstore in Vienna. But these were no ordinary pictures. They turned out to be photographs taken in the Lodz Ghetto by Walter Genewein, the Nazi's chief accountant for the notorious slave labor camp for Jews. The Non-descript bureaucrat Genewein was good at increasing productivity and controlling costs, oblivious to the unspeakable suffering caused by his actions. And he cold-bloodedly photographed - using pioneering color film - the devastation wrought upon more than 300,000 Jews in the Ghetto; by the end of the war, only 15,000 had survived. The photographer brilliantly juxtaposes Genewein's heartless pictures with narration by a survivor of the Nazi atrocities, Dr. Arnold Mostowicz. He gives chilling eyewitness testimony to German savagery in the Ghetto - committed by those, like Genewein, who were just "following orders." Unique in the annals of Holocaust films - evoking the "banality of evil" as no other documentary ever has - it shows the guilt of ordinary men in the Final Solution. And we have the photographs as proof.

GENRE:
documentary
RUNNING TIME:
57'
YEAR:
DIRECTING:
Dariusz Jabłoński
EDITOR:
Milenia Fiedler
PRODUCTION:
Apple Film Production, Broadcast AV, Telewizja Polska, Canal+ Polska, Agencja Produkcji Filmowej, MDR

Dariusz Jabłoński »

Director and producer, president of Apple Film Production. Not often directs, his most famous film is "The Photographer", a documentary awarded at the most prestigious festivals in the world. His feature film debut was "Strawberry Wine", based on Andrzej Stasiuk's novel, "Galician Tales". Jabłoński graduated from Directing Department at the Polish National Film, Television and Theater School in Lodz. He is a founder of Polish Film Academy and Polish Film Awards – The Eagels. He is also the founder and the president of Independent Film Foundation, created to promote Polish cinematography and filmmakers both in the country and outside Poland. For 11 years Independent Film Foundation has been organizing Polish Film Awards. Dariusz Jablonski is also a creator and Artistic Director of ScripTeast, training programme for scriptwriters from Eastern and Central Europe. He is a member of Polish and European Film Academy.
AWARDS AT POLISH FESTIVALS:
* Prix Europa w kategorii filmu dokumentalnego Non-Fiction
* IDFA - Grand Prix Nagroda Jorisa Ivensa
* Krakowski Festiwal Fimowy - "Don Kichot", Nagroda Międzynarodowej Federacji Klubów Filmowych FICC
* Festiwal Mediów "Człowiek w Zagrożeniu" - Nagroda Prezydenta Miasta Łodzi
* Nagroda Główna Telewizyjna Rządu Bawarii
* MFF Pessac - Wyróżnienie Specjalne
* Festiwal Filmów Państw Bałtyckich - Nagroda Jury Prasowego
* Adolf Grimme Prize
* MFF Banff - tytuł najlepszego filmu dokumentalnego