Mendel

In the 1950s Mendel Trotzig, a bright and curious boy, moves with his family to Norway, where a restricted number of Jewish refugees were able to re-establish their lives. Mendel has visions of cavorting polar bears. Instead, he finds himself contending with fish dumplings, cod liver oil and the family's slum apartment. Mendel's parents conceal their experiences during the war while they also adjust to unfamiliar customs. When Mendel ventures out to get acquainted with a suspicious local population, the story that ensues - that of a young boy yearning to be brave - is as humorous as it is touching. Director Alexander Rosler's delicate characterization is inspired by his own life: Rosler was born in Dachau, Germany in 1947, his family later emigrated to Norway. This is one of those rare cinematic offerings that gives universal insight into how children internalize the scars left by war.

Script writer and driector Alexander Røsler was born in Dachau in 1947, and came to Norway as a Jewish refugee during the 1950's. With a background in social-anthropology, Røsler began his career as a documentary film-maker shooting at home and abroad.During the past 20 years he has directed and produced a wide array of films, primarily documentaries, for NRK, UNICEF, NORAD and Amnesty International. Alexander Røsler has also written and directed short features for children of which "Sommerjubel" (Joy of Summer, 1985) and "Trollsteinen" (The Magical Stone, 1987) have been distributed in movie theatres as well as on Television. "Sommelubel" received the audience's choice award at the Chicago International Festival of Children's Film in 1986 and the Audience's Choice at the Norwegian Short Film Festival of 1985. It was also invited to the Kinderfilmfest in Berlin in 1986. In 1991 Røsler received the national film award "Amanda" (best documentary) for "Svett glamour" (Sweaty Glamour).