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LENINGRAD SYMPHONY
AUGUST 1942: DURING THE LENINGRAD BLOCKADE THE CONDUCTOR KARL ELIASBERG RECEIVES AN UNBELIEVABLE ASSIGNMENT: SURROUNDED BY HUNGER, COLD, AND DEATH HE MUST CONDUCT SHOSTAKOVICH’S 7TH SYMPHONY WITH HIS SURVIVING ORCHESTRA. AGAINST ALL ODDS HE AC-COMPLISHES THE IMPOSSIBLE: FOR A SHORT MOMENT THE WAR IS INTERRUPTED, AS THE SOUNDS OF THE „LENINGRAD SYMPHONY“ WAFT THROUGH THE CITY ALL THE WAY TO THE GERMAN TREN-CHES. THE HEROIC STORY OF AN ORCHESTRA AND THE SYMBOLIC TRIUMPH OF ART OVER THE SA-VAGERY OF WAR.
TV PREMIERE:ARTE „LENINGRAD SYMPHONIE - EINE STADT KÄMPFT UM IHR LEBEN“ 27.02.2018, 21:45ARD „DAS WUNDER VON LENINGRAD“ 28.03.2018, 22:45
G E B R U E D E R B E E T Z F I L M P R O D U K T I O N
A DOCU-DRAMA BY GEBRUEDER BEETZ FILMPRODUCTION 1X90 / 1X52 MIN HDNDR, NDR/ARTE, SWR, RBB, DR, NRK, LRT, LVT, CZECH TV; GERMANY 2017SUPPORTED BY CREATIVE EUROPE MEDIA, NORDMEDIADISTRIBUTOR: GLOBAL SCREEN
CONTENT
DOCU-DRAMALENINGRAD SYMPHONY
SYNOPSIS 03
DIRECTORS CHRISTIAN FREY AND CARSTEN GUTSCHMIDT 05
CREW 06
PRESS KIT G E B R U E D E R B E E T Z F I L M P R O D U K T I O N
LENINGRAD SYMPHONYSYNOPSIS
PRESS KIT
Leningrad in the winter of 1942: a city of three mil-lion people facing death by starvation. Hitler’s or-ders were simple: besiege Leningrad, supported by bombs and artillery, and exterminate its popu-lation by cutting off its food supplies. The German generals and their troops obeyed. The siege of Le-ningrad lasted a staggering 872 days. The resulting genocide constituted one of the Wehrmacht’s most heinous crimes, as hundreds of thousands of men, women and children died during the siege induced famine.
Almost miraculously, not everyone died. One of the forces that helped to keep the city’s survivors alive was Leningrad’s radio station, broadcasting poetry and live music, even though its members of staff were facing starvation like everyone else in the city. For many ordinary people, the radio’s daily broadcasts became a last lifeline, as they struggled
to maintain their will to live in the face of extreme famine.
It was during the darkest days of the siege, in March 1942, that the emaciated conductor of the city’s ra-dio orchestra, Karl Eliasberg, was given a seemingly impossible assignment: surrounded by extreme hunger, cold and death he was to rehearse Shosta-kovich’s brand new 7th Symphony, one of the most powerful and epic wartime compositions of the 20th century. The symphony would have to be per-formed by the few surviving members of his radio orchestra, some of them too weak to lift their inst-ruments. It was to be broadcast live by Leningrad’s radio station, as a sign that the city refused to die.
Against all odds, Eliasberg and a handful of coura-geous musicians and radio producers would ma-nage the impossible. On August 9th 1942, after
03G E B R U E D E R B E E T Z F I L M P R O D U K T I O N
PRESS KIT
months of painful rehearsals and preparation, the war was interrupted by the stirring sounds of the “Leningrad Symphony”, broadcast to the city’s homes and in the streets, and all the way to the Soviet and German trenches. In Russia, the perfor- mance is remembered as a psychological turning point in the war, the moment that Leningrad ma-nifested its unwavering resolve to withstand the forces of Nazism.
Impressive interviews with contemporary witnes-ses, unique archive recordings from occupied Lenin-grad and elaborately produced reenacted scenes tell the shocking story of one of the most famous symphonies of the last century.
The siege of Leningrad was one of the greatest war crimes of the Second World War and a great propa-
ganda campaign at the same time: The performan-ce of the Leningrad Symphony is still regarded as a turning point in the war by the Russians.
„Leningrad Symphony“ describes this tragedy as a gripping documentary from the perspective of the besieged and the besieger and shows the cruel everyday life of a city that seems to be devoted to death.
In addition to the interviews with contemporary witnesses such as Olga Kvade and Joachim Buff, (the brother of the soldier), the film is fundamental-ly underpinned by expert interviews with historian Prof. Dr. Sönke Neitzel and British journalist and wri-ter Anna Reid („Leningrad: The Epic Victory of World War II, 1941-1944“).
04G E B R U E D E R B E E T Z F I L M P R O D U K T I O N
PRESS KIT
Studied Political Science at the University of Ham-burg. After that he started as an editorial intern and reporter at the NDR. From 1992 to 1997 he workes as an editor at the MDR. Since then he a self-employed author, director and producer. Two times he won the Bayrischer Fernsehprei: 1992 for the documentary „Clara Mosch – oder die schöp-ferische Zersetzung“ and 2001 for his involvement in the ARD-series „Die Vertriebenen“. 2013 he was nominated for the German Television Prize for his participation in the ZDF-series „Weltenbrand“. 2014 he was decorated with the New York Film Festivals‘ World Gold Medal.
FILMOGRAPHY (SAMPLE)
After finishing school, he started with several in-ternships and jobs in the industry such as lighting technician on set of Tom Tykwers „Lola Rennt“. 1996-1998 he worked as the assistent of director Philipp Stölzl („Medicus“, „Goethe“, „Nordwand“) with the DoRo Berlin Filmproduktion.1998 he‘s done his first own film as a director. Sin-ce then he visited many workshops and lectures addressing dramaturgy and directing actors.
05
AUTHOR & DIRECTOR
CHRISTIAN FREY
DIRECTOR
CARSTEN GUTSCHMIDT
2016
2015
2012
2012
2011
2011
2010
2009
Mythos Goldzug, ZDF
Wir Geiseln der SS, 2x52 min, ZDF/arte
Weltenbrand – Der SündenfallDokumentation, 45 min, ZDF
Geheimnisse des 2. Weltkrieges: Mythos Alpenfestung Doku-Reihe, 45/52 min, ZDF
Geheimnisse des III. Reiches: Rommel-Mythos und WahrheitDoku-Reihe, 45/52 min, ZDF
ZDF History: Die Macht der MagieDoku-Reihe, 43 min, ZDF
ZDF History: Mielkes MenschenjägerDoku-Reihe, 43 min, ZDF
Stauffenberg – Die wahre Geschichte, Teil 1Zweiteilige Dokumentation, 90 min, ZDF
G E B R U E D E R B E E T Z F I L M P R O D U K T I O N
2015
2012
2012
2011
2010
2009
2009
Wir Geiseln der SS, 2x52 min, ZDF/arte
Weltenbrand 1914Doku-Drama-Serie, 3x43 min, ZDF Szenische Regie
Terra X – Die BernsteinstrasseDoku-Drama, 2x43 min, ZDF/arteSzenische Regie
Terra X – Die Deutsche HanseDoku-Drama, 2x43 min, ZDFSzenische Regie Die Deutschen (2. Staffel)Doku-Drama-Serie, 10x43 Min, ZDFSzenische Regie (drei Episoden)
Terra X – Jäger verlorener Schätze: Cold Case DresdenDoku-Drama, 43 Min, ZDF
Himmel, Hölle, Fegefeuer – Dem Teufel auf der SpurDokumentarfilm, 43 Min, ZDF
PRESS KIT
STABLISTECAST
AUTHOR & DIRECTOR
(DOCUMENTARY)
DIRECTOR
(RE-ENACTMENTS)
DOP
SET DESIGN
COSTUME DESIGN
MAKE UP ARTIST
SOUND EDITOR
FILM EDITOR
VFX/CGI
Christian Frey
Carsten Gutschmidt
Jürgen Rehberg
Marc Riemer
Tom Bresinsky
Michael Kern
Yuri Ermolin
Dennis Duis
Stefanie Jauß
Yvonne Oppermann
Thomas Funk
Marcel Martens
Eike Wichmann
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER
PRODUCTION MANAGER
PRODUCTION ASSISTENT
DRAMATURGY CONSULTANT
COMMISSIONING EDITORS
FUNDING
Reinhardt Beetz, GBF
Paul Wiederhold
Stefan Hoffmann
Lilly Hartmann
Leonie Rüschoff
Rebecca Zaubel
Christian Kaps
Marc Brasse, NDR
Ulrike Dotzer, NDR/arte
Jens Stubenrauch, RBB
Sandra Dujmovic, SWR
Creative Europe MEDIA
Nordmedia Fonds GmbH
06G E B R U E D E R B E E T Z F I L M P R O D U K T I O N
FRITZ FUCHS
WOLFGANG BUFF
KARL ELIASBERG
OLGA KVADE
N. BORONNIKOWA
D. SCHOSTAKOWITSCH
Markus Brandl
Tino Mewes
Matthias Bundschuh
Mercedes Müller
Anja Antonowicz
Florian Panzner
CREW
EDITORIAL & PRODUCTION TEAM