The House on August Street

AWARDS

GRAND PRIX AWARD FOR DOCUMENTARY CIRCOM Regional, European Association of Regional Television 2008
SECOND PRIZE FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY Haifa International Film Festival 2007

FESTIVAL SCREENINGS

OFFICIAL SELECTION Boston Jewish Film Festival 2007
OFFICIAL SELECTION International Leipzig Festival for Documentary & Animated Film 2007
OFFICIAL SELECTION Saviors on the Screen, JCC Manhattan 2008
OFFICIAL SELECTION Isratim Israeli Film Festival, Paris, France 2008
OFFICIAL SELECTION Toronto Jewish Film Festival 2008
OFFICIAL SELECTION Berlin Jewish Film Festival 2008
OFFICIAL SELECTION Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival 2008
OFFICIAL SELECTION San Joaquin Film Festival 2008

DOWNLOAD PRESS KIT (pdf)

The House on August Street tells the remarkable, unknown story of Beate Berger, a German Jew who single-handedly and with great resolve and vision rescued over 100 children during the Holocaust, smuggling them from Berlin to Palestine in the 1930s. Berger, founder of the House of Love Children’s Home (Beith Ahawah Kinderheim) Berlin’s first home for poor Jewish children, was quick to recognize the Nazi threat and resolved to protect the 120 children under her care on “August Street.” Raising the funds and making all the clandestine arrangements herself, Berger brought groups of children into Palestine from Germany from 1934 to 1939. The Beit Ahava orphanage in Haifa, founded by Berger to house her charges, remains open today.

With The House on August Street, award-winning director Ayelet Bargur pays tribute to Beate Berger, her great-aunt. Bargur’s extensive research into her aunt’s life yielded the 2006 book Ahawah Heisst Liebe on which the film is based and which resurrected the extraordinary story of this courageous and visionary woman. Bargur’s innovative documentary weaves together rare archival film materials and interviews with Berger’s “children” with elegantly presented monologues based on Berger’s letters brought to life by the acclaimed German actress Naomi Krauss. These poignant, illuminating scenes were filmed on location in the now-empty Berlin building that was once a house of love.

CRITICAL ACCLAIM

“Immeasurable love and emotion, without a drop of sentimentality nor nostalgic schmaltz. A meticulously forged work of cinema, both modest and humble, moving and inspiring.”
-Yehuda Stav, Yediot Aharonot, Israel’s largest daily newspaper

“Breathtaking moments for actor Naomi Krauss as Beate Berger. With chilling clarity and without the slightest hint of misrepresentation, she shares with the viewer the process whereby she realized that Germany is no longer a place for Jewish children.”
-Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, German daily newspaper

“A stirring, unique compilation of human portraits that portrays the painful past, in the present.”
-Noam Buxbaum, Ha'aretz Online, Israel

“Exceptionally moving.”
-Yael Shuv, Time Out Israel

"A most impressive way to exhibit the prevailing ambiance in Germany at the rise of the Nazis… Extremely convincing dramatic moments are created through the imaginary dialogue between the director and her great aunt. "
-Berliner Zeitung, German daily newspaper

“Highly recommended.”
- Yon Feder, Ynet Israel

“This valuable historical document tells with great expertise and effectiveness the moving story of the children of Beit Ahavah in Berlin and the way they were brought to Israel. The director has made excellent use of varied cinematic tools to create a work which is important, artistically satisfying and engrossing.”
-HAIFA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL JURY STATEMENT 2007 When Awarding Second Prize for Best Documentary

LINKS

Also Directed by Ayelet Bargur:
AS IF NOTHING HAPPENED

Biography of AYELET BARGUR

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