In Egon Humer's two-part documentary, seven women and five men remember their childhood as Jews living in Austria. These are often painful memories, involving their persecution in Austria, the difficulties of finding a country in which to live and how, as refugees, they adjusted to their new life in a foreign country, in this case the US. Telling of their desperation, they describe the new country from their point of view as children, teenagers and as survivors, who feel a life-long guilt for the death of those they left behind. "We will never be free of that as long as we live," says Amos Vogel, one of the émigrés.

"The memories are too strong, the wounds too deep."

With Humer's sensitive direction, they tell their stories with an arresting openness, often describing feelings that are difficult to talk about in front of the camera.

"Apart from the historical aspect of the film, my aim was to re-construct the story of their persecution as the subjective experiences of human beings," explains Humer, who also directed 1992's The Tunnel and 1993's The Bands. Emigration NY is an exceptional documentary, in which the screen is a bridge into the lives of its subjects, not a barrier.

Dana Ranga

Prod co: Prisma Film Produktion GmbH

Prods: Heinz Stussak, Michael Seeber

Dir/scr: Egon Humer

Ph: Peter Roehsler

Ed: Karina Ressler

Music: Shelly Hirsch, Dave Tarras, Lisa Grad

Cast: Rosa Ully Axelrod, Ann Branden, Susanne Edelman, Frank Eisinger

Running time: 89 mins

Screening: 23 June, 20.00, Praha maly

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