Prisoner of Paradise

"The startling true story of a Jewish director ordered to make a propaganda film for the Nazis."

Apr 23 2011 PG 1h 36m
Biography, Documentary

The film tells the true story of Kurt Gerron, a German-Jewish cabaret and film actor in the 1920s and 1930s who was sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp where he was commanded to write and direct a Nazi propaganda film.

Plot

This documentary chronicles the life of Kurt Gerron, a German Jew who rose to prominence as an actor and director in prewar Germany and was eventually coerced by the Nazis into making a film portraying the concentration camp called Terezin (or Theresienstadt) seem like an ideal community of relocated Jews. A well-crafted documentary adeptly narrated by actor Ian Holm, "Prisoner of Paradise" is a fresh reminder that we should never forget what happened.

Written by

Malcolm Clarke

Directed by

Malcolm Clarke, Stuart Sender

Cast

Ian Holm, Robert Lantz, Eleonore Hertzberg

Crew

View crew

Production Countries

Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, United States of America

Production Companies

Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), U5 Filmproduktion, BBC, HISTORY TELEVISION, Media Verite, Café Productions

Languages

English

Awards

Nominated for 1 Oscar. 1 win & 2 nominations total

Scores
# of Votes
441
Average Rating
7.5 out of 10
Metascore
NA
Popularity
NA