DOCUMENTARY

Abschied ein Leben lang

A Life-Long Farewell

Käthe Kratz
'You can take a person out of Vienna, but you can't take Vienna out of a person.' (Curtis Brown, Neenah, Wisconsin) 'This hatred of Austria is so deep and unbounded because the love is so unbounded.' (Gerda Lederer, New York) 'I have only one wish, that this city, this country should say that they are terribly sorry.' (Anne Kelemen, New York) Three former residents of Vienna, Anne (Anny) Kelemen, Gerda Lederer and Curtis Brown (Kurt Braun), return to the city where they were born. They are invited by the 'Lost Neighborhood' memorial project, part of which is the reconstruction of the façade of a synagogue destroyed 60 years ago. The stories told by these three emigrants are juxtaposed with images of this project, resulting in a dramatic, humorous and moving documentary of Jewish life in 1930s Vienna.
Technical Data
Running time: 91
Format: 16mm
Screen ratio: 1:1.66
Sound: Joe Knauer
Language spoken: German
Subtitles: English
Production year: 1999
Credits
Director(s): Käthe Kratz
Writer(s): Käthe Kratz
Cinematography: Astrid Heubrandtner, Peter Freiss, Bernd Neuburger
Editing: Hubert Canaval
Producers: Lukas Stepanik, Bernd Neuburger
Production company
Extrafilm
Schlösselgasse 22/6
1080 Vienna
tel:+43 676 706 90 62