American Film Market Dailies

Executive Director Stephen Smith with survivor Edward Mosberg and Institute founder Steven Spielberg

DESTINATION UNKNOWN Opening in Theaters November 10th
Directed by Claire Ferguson
Produced by Llion Roberts


Executive Produced by USC Shoah Foundation's Stephen D. Smith


INTERVIEWS & SCREENING LINKS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

Holocaust survivor Edward Mosberg believes it is his duty to share what happened to him, his family, and millions of other Jews during World War II. He regularly shares his story with students all over the world.

Mosberg visited the office of USC Shoah Foundation this week not only to learn about the Institute’s work, but also to share his story. Wearing the blue-striped concentration camp uniform of his youth, Mosberg spoke to a group of history students and attended a private screening of the film DESTINATION UNKNOWN  produced in association with the Institute. The documentary tells his and the stories of other Holocaust survivors and how each one found different ways to overcome the deep scars that they carry.

An avid philanthropist, the 92-year-old Mosberg was joined by Stephen Smith as he stopped by the office of USC Shoah Foundation founder Steven Spielberg on Friday to donate to Spielberg’s temple a two-hundred-year old Torah that was rescued by righteous gentiles in Poland.

“Powerful and moving”
- Stephen D. Smith, Executive Director of the USC Shoah Foundation

“This film is the best response to the Nazi solution of the annihilation of the Jewish nation”
- Branko Lustig, Producer, Schindler's List

★ ★ ★ ★ 
“Gripping testimony”
- Kate Muir, The Times

★ ★ ★ ★ ★
“A powerful, valuable addition to Holocaust testimony”
- Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

★ ★ ★ ★
“What gives Destination Unknown its power is the focus on the trauma endured by the survivors”
- Nick Hasted, The Independent

 

Synopsis:

DESTINATION UNKNOWN blends intimate testimony with immersive archive to bring the stories of twelve Holocaust survivors to the screen.The film creates a seamless mosaic of first-hand accounts, rare archive from the time, and family Super 8 footage from after the war. The survivors share their memories, some for the first time, some for the last, bringing their experiences to a new generation.We see those who survived in hiding, those who fought as partisans, and those who endured camps such as Treblinka, Mauthausen and Auschwitz-Birkenau. While a few managed to escape, most had to try to find a way to stay alive until the end of the war.Their stories do not end with liberation. We see how they had to survive the chaos that came afterwards, and their attempts to build new lives.

 

About Documentary Subject & Holocaust Survivor: Ed Mosberg
 

Ed Mosberg was born in Krakow, Poland and survived the Krakow ghetto, Plaszow and Mathausen concentration camps, and slave labor at the Hermann-Goering factory. His entire family was murdered in the Holocaust.    Today, he is a successful real estate developer and philanthropist in New Jersey, married to fellow survivor, Cecile, with whom he has three daughters and several grandchildren.  Though he has long been a passionate public speaker, sharing his story with students and others around the world, Mosberg has reached an even bigger audience through his role in the film DESTINATION UNKNOWN. 

 

About Producer: Llion Roberts

Llion interviewed and directed the testimonies of the Holocaust Survivors featured in 'Destination Unknown' over a thirteen year period (2003 - 2016) Work within the same period includes live transmission output for mainstream Television, including ITV, BBC Network, Channel 4, S4C, Sky Box-Office, ESPN and UK regional channels. Co-Pioneered Digital Satellite Newsgathering during the early nineties, with Gigatel co-director, Rob Law.

About Director: Claire Ferguson

Claire Ferguson is a British documentary filmmaker who started in drama, working on films such as Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, 1999) and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Terry Gilliam, 1998). She made her name in feature documentaries with Nick Broomfield's Aileen: The Life and Death of a Serial Killer (Tribeca winner 2003) and Concert for George (Grammy winner 2005). Other work includes The End of the Line (Puma Social Impact award 2011), Guilty Pleasures  (Grierson nominee 2011) and the multi-award winning Up in Smoke (2012). She story produced the Emmy nominee  Growing Up Down’s (2015). Her directorial work includes the 5 x Platinum selling The Beatles in Help! and The Concert for Bangladesh Revisited.