section Documentary Film Competition

Award Winner KNOCK ON THE DOOR "Best Documentary"

This year's Gershon Klein Documentary Award goes to KNOCK ON THE DOOR by Ohad Milstein and Aya Elia (IL 2023). The prize is awarded by the documentary jury, consisting of Claims Conference film officer Abigail Prade, French screenwriter Geoffroy Grison and Russian documentary filmmaker Nikita Pavlov, who lives in Berlin. "A sensitive story about a life-changing experience in which one family's intimate tragedy becomes a universal film about grief," according to the jury's statement. In the film, officers of the Israel Defense Forces deliver the death news to the families of the soldiers who were killed. The Gershon Klein Prizes are endowed with 3,000 € each, donated by Gershon Klein's daughters Madeleine Budde and Jacqueline Hopp.

Credits

original title Preisträger KNOCK ON THE DOOR "Bester Dokumentarfilm"

international title Award Winner KNOCK ON THE DOOR "Best Documentary"

german title Preisträger KNOCK ON THE DOOR "Bester Dokumentarfilm"

JFBB section Documentary Film Competition

performances

  • expired
    20.06.2023 21:30
    Berlin: Kino Central (OPEN AIR)

  • expired


    Nitzan, Ido and Frisch, all around the age of 17, join their classmates on a trip which is a rite of passage for many young Israelis. In Poland they visit the memorials of the German extermination camps in an attempt to better understand the history of both their ancestors and their country at the very places where the genocide of the Jews took place. They are accompanied by a Shoah survivor: Yosef, Frisch's grandfather, speaks to the youngsters about his childhood and youth. This is emotionally draining, overwhelming even; for him, for his grandson, for the trip leaders. Even on the coach every free minute is filled with Anatevka or Schindler's list and yet the youngsters also have other things on their minds; they sing, laugh and gossip. For they are young, adventurous and in love, for the most part with the wrong person, and after the obligatory activities are interested in parties more than anything else. Director Asaf Saban captures the contradictions of this most unusual class trip with a keen sense for youthful sensitivities. How can history be conveyed in such an environment? Do sadness and shock become mere rituals here, the results of peer pressure even? Is there sufficient time and space for individual reflection? This keenly observant work depicts how the journey takes the teenagers on an emotional trip, at times even overwhelming them, and yet nevertheless represents an important stage in their transition towards adulthood. Text: Kira Taszman English: Peter Rickerby *** On 15.6. at 15:00 at Filmkunst 66, leading actress Neomi Harari will be present for a film discussion after the film.