Every Face Has a Name
DIRECTOR: Magnus Gertten COUNTRY: Sweden YEAR: 2015 LANGUAGE(S): Swedisch, Polish, English SUBTITLES: English, German RUNNING TIME: 76 min
SECTION: International Forum 2015, Open Eyes 2015
SYNOPSIS
1945: A ship laden with refugees reaches the safe port of Malmö, Sweden. This is where hundreds of concentration camp survivors are to find new homes. They are filmed as they make their first steps on terra firma.
70 years later, director Magnus Gertten visits those survivors who are still alive and shows them the footage. Their stories and reactions create a complex mix of emotions and memories of this particular day. For them, Sweden meant rescue. But what about the fact that they were again registered in a bureaucratic way, examined and deloused – just like they were in the concentration camps? And what about the fact that a woolen coat that had saved someone’s life suddenly constitutes a hygiene hazard and has to be burned?
The intensive, intimate film is not only about the past. As the film goes on, pictures of today’s migrants on the borders of Europe are juxtaposed with the historical footage. The parallels between Malmö 1945 and Lampedusa 2015 make an urgent plea for humane interaction with all refugees.
MAGNUS GERTTEN
Director, film producer and screenwriter Magnus Gertten was born in Malmö, Sweden in 1953. He is the brother of filmmaker Fredrik Gertten. He studied Journalism and is now the co-owner of the production company Auto Images. Gertten debuted in 1998 with the film BLÅDÅRAR and has directed fifteen films since.
FILMOGRAPHY
Blådårar (1999), True Blue 2 – The Way Back (2002), Get Busy (2004), Rolling like a Stone (2005), Long Distance Love (2009), Harbour of Hope (2011), Tusen bitar (2014), Every Face Has a Name (2015)
SCRIPT: Magnus Gertten PRODUCERS: Lennart Ström, Magnus Gertten CAMERA: Adam Makarenko, Caroline Troedsson, Gustaf Boge (1945), Arne D. S. Haldorsen, Sven Lindahl, Tony Miller, Mattias Olsson, Magnus Rutberg, Jacek Szymański, Ita Zbroniec-Zajt EDITOR: Jesper Osmund MUSIC: Hans Appelqvist
PRODUCTION: Auto Images Ab WORLD SALES: Anja Dziersk, Rise And Shine World Sales