Shadows Over the Future

Three sides of a triangle‒Israeli, Palestinian and German‒are brought together in this honest personal and unusual documentary. Anat is an Israeli doctoral student now living in Germany, whose parents escaped from Germany in 1939 and now live in Haifa. She meets with Fuad, a Palestinian playwright who was born in a refugee camp and now lives in Munich. The two go to Israel and the teritories and have emotional encounters with their respective families. Director Bergmann has created not an analytic film but one that tries to humanize the issues. He asks: how does the past influence the present? What responsibility do survivors of the Holocaust have towards others? Can Israelis and Palestinians ever recognize each others claims to the land? What right does a young German have to make a film about all of this?

Bio-filmography by Wolfgang Bergmann 1946 born in Paderborn, Westfalia 1967-197 studies in Hamburg and Munich: journalism, art and philosophy 1972-1974 assistant of director: Geissendörfer, Stöckl, Furtwängler und Kotulla 1974-1982 director of film distributions 1981-1983 long term documentary about a ecological farmproject THIS IS NOT A DREAM, ARD 1983 1982-1985 SHADOWS OVER THE FUTURE, ZDF Kleines Fernsehspiel Price of the German filmcritics 1985, Festivals: Haifa, München, Rotterdam, Cinema du reel, Paris, Jewish, Filmfestival San Francisco & Paris, Flaherty Seminar, Anthropos 87, World Distribution: First Run/Icarus Films 1988 ONLY UTOPIA CAN SAVE US... documentary about the life of the physician Hans-Peter Dürr, 45 min., WDR 1988/89 SPURENSUCHE - The mystery of the Thora of Straubing, 45 min., WDR3 1990 INTO THE LAND OF FULFILMENT - TO COMRADE STALIN Part 1: German Communists in the Gulag Part 2: Carola Neher: Cause of death unknown Part 3: Austrians in the Gulag 3x45 Minutes, NDR/WDR/ORF 1991/1992 RAILWAY STATIONS OF EUROPE TELL THEIR STORIES, series of 9x30 minutes, (Paris, London, Leipzig, Budapest, Istanbul, Prag-Vienna, St.Petersburg, Madrid, Milan) Coproduction with NDR, Focus Film, Budapest, Video Spot, Madrid u.a. 1993 THE REICHSEINSATZ” - Forced Labourers in Germany during World War II, 117 Min. NDR/WDR/arte, Filmfest Munich, Festival Dei Popoli Firenze, Hessischer Filmpreis 1993, Int. Berlin Filmfestival 1994 1995/1996 MISUSED HELPER - The German Red Cross 1921 till 1945 NDR/WDR/arte, 52 min., Wolfgang Bergmann "OSKAR UND JACK by Frauke Sandig, 60 minutes, Super 16 mm. About identical twins living seperated, with german-jewish roots. WDR/arte/SWF, Filmbüro NW World distribution: Jane Balfour Films 1997 EMPIRE OF DREAMS - The Bolshoi Ballet between Myth and Reality Irene Langemann, 60 Min, MDR/WDR/arte World distribution: Jane Balfour Films SECRETS OF THE CHÖÖMEJ - Voices from Tuva, by Wolfgang Hamm, 60 minutes, WDR/3sat World distribution: Jane Balfour Films 1998 BETWEEN HERE AND THERE - The writer Giwi Margwelaschwili” by Irene Langemann, Deutsche Welle TV, 30 Min. END OF AN ODYSSEE - THE LIFE OF THE PIANIST RUDOLF KEHRER by Irene Langemann, Deutsche Welle TV, 30 Min. LATE VICTIMS - Germans in Polish Camps 1944 - 1950 by Wolfgang Bergmann, WDR/MDR 1999 HUMBOLDTS NEXT GENERATION, 30 Min., DW-TV KLASSE(N) KLÄNGE, Portray of a school class, by Irene Langemann, 77 min.,WDR/3sat 1999/2000 "RUSSIA'S WONDER CHILDREN", by Irene Langemann, 98/60 minutes, WDR/arte, Filmstiftung NW Trial Against Silence - The case of Enrico Mattei, by Bernhard Pfletschinger and Claus Bredenbrock, WDR/ARTE, Filmstiftung NRW, 60/45 minutes.