Drawing Against Oblivion

A mixture of an art film, portrait and period drama. It’s about children, the most innocent in society and war. The director wants to shed light on countless children, who were murdered by Nazis and disappeared in the archives as statistical numbers. Using horizontal charcoal lines on coarse jute canvas, he draws one portrait after the other. These children look at us questioningly, filled with fear, the moment of total loss of orientation is captured on the photographs the SS took of their victims for the official records. These photos are used as template for the drawings. The film embarks on a journey to archives in the USA and Auschwitz concentration camp and meets children from those times, Holocaust survivors. The film doesn’t search for culprits but uses positive energy to show that it’s important to take a look, not to be in denial, in order to prevent something like that from ever happening again.