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 SYMPHONY

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1 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 SYMPHONY A DOCUDRAMA BY GEBRUEDER BEETZ FILMPRODUCTION HAMBURG 1X90MIN HD IN CO-PRODUCTION WITH NDR, SWR, RBB IN CO-OPERATION WITH ARTE, TVN (POLAND), NRK (NORWAY), ČESKÁ TELEVIZE (CZECH REPUBLIC), DR (DENMARK), LTV (LATVIA), LRT (LITHUANIA), BEL DOCS 2015 (SERBIA), TILE FILMS (IRELAND) SUPPORTED BY CREATIVE EUROPE MEDIA, NORDMEDIA AUGUST 1942: DURING THE LENINGRAD BLOCKADE THE CONDUCTOR KARL ELIASBERG RECEIVES AN UNBELIEVABLE ASSIGNMENT BY RADIO PRODUCER YAKHOV BABUSHKIN: SURROUNDED BY HUN- GER, COLD, AND DEATH ELIASBERG MUST CONDUCT SHOSTAKOVICH S 7TH SYMPHONY WITH HIS SURVIVING ORCHESTRA. AGAINST ALL ODDS HE ACCOMPLISHES THE IMPOSSIBLE: FOR A SHORT MO- MENT THE WAR IS INTERRUPTED BY THE SOUNDS OF THE LENINGRAD SYMPHONY WAFT THROUGH THE CITY ALL THE WAY TO GERMAN TRENCHES. IT IS THE HEROIC STORY OF LENINGRAD S RADIO CREW AND THE SYMBOLIC TRIUMPH OF ART OVER THE SAVAGERY OF WAR. SEPTEMBER 8TH, 2016 MARKS THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BEGINNING OF THE LENINGRAD BLOCKADE. FIRST BROADCAST ARD: SPRING 2018

2 PRESS RELEASE 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 CONTENT DOCUDRAMA LENINGRAD SYMPHONY SYNOPSIS 03 DIRECTORS CHRISTIAN FREY AND CARSTEN GUTSCHMIDT 05 CREW 06

3 PRESS RELEASE GEBRUEDER BEETZ FILMPRODUKTION 03 LENINGRAD SYMPHONY SYNOPSIS Leningrad in the winter of 1942: a city of three million people facing death by starvation. Hitler s orders were simple: besiege Leningrad, supported by bombs and artillery, and exterminate its population by cutting off its food supplies. The German generals and their troops obeyed. The siege of Leningrad 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. 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 radio orchestra, Karl Eliasberg, was given a seemingly impossible assignment: surrounded by extreme hunger, cold and death he was to rehearse Shostakovich s brand new 7th Symphony, one of the most powerful and epic wartime compositions of the 20th century. The symphony would have to be performed by the few surviving members of his radio orchestra, some of them too weak to lift their instruments. It was to be broadcast live by Leningrad s radio station, as a sign that the city refused to die. 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 Against all odds, Eliasberg and a handful of courathe city. For many ordinary people, the radio s daily geous musicians and radio producers would mabroadcasts became a last lifeline, as they struggled nage the impossible. On August 9th 1942, after

4 PRESS RELEASE 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 04 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 performance is remembered as a psychological turning point in the war, the moment that Leningrad manifested its unwavering resolve to withstand the forces of Nazism. Impressive interviews with contemporary witnesses, unique archive recordings from the occupied Leningrad 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 propag anda campaign at the same time: The performance 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 fundamentally underpinned by expert interviews with the historian Prof. Dr. Sönke Neitzel and the British journalist and writer Anna Reid ( Leningrad: The Epic Victory of World War II, ).

5 PRESS RELEASE 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 05 AUTHOR & DIRECTOR CHRISTIAN FREY DIRECTOR CARSTEN GUTSCHMIDT Studied Political Science at the University of Hamburg. 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 schöpferische Zersetzung and 2001 for his involvement in the ARD-series Die Vertriebenen he was nominated for the German Television Prize for his participation in the ZDF-series Weltenbrand he was decorated with the New York Film Festivals World Gold Medal. After finishing school, he started with several internships and jobs in the industry such as lighting technician on set of Tom Tykwers Lola Rennt he worked as the assistent of director Philipp Stölzl ( Medicus, Goethe, Nordwand ) with the DoRo Berlin Filmproduktion he s done his first own film as a director. Since then he visited many workshops and lectures addressing dramaturgy and directing actors. FILMOGRAPHY (SAMPLE) 2016 Mythos Goldzug, ZDF 2015 Wir Geiseln der SS, 2x52 min, ZDF/arte Wir Geiseln der SS, 2x52 min, ZDF/arte Weltenbrand Der Sündenfall Dokumentation, 45 min, ZDF Geheimnisse des 2. Weltkrieges: Mythos Alpenfestung Doku-Reihe, 45/52 min, ZDF Geheimnisse des III. Reiches: Rommel-Mythos und Wahrheit Doku-Reihe, 45/52 min, ZDF ZDF History: Die Macht der Magie Doku-Reihe, 43 min, ZDF Weltenbrand 1914 Doku-Drama-Serie, 3x43 min, ZDF Szenische Regie Terra X Die Bernsteinstrasse Doku-Drama, 2x43 min, ZDF/arte Szenische Regie Terra X Die Deutsche Hanse Doku-Drama, 2x43 min, ZDF Szenische Regie Die Deutschen (2. Staffel) Doku-Drama-Serie, 10x43 Min, ZDF Szenische Regie (drei Episoden) ZDF History: Mielkes Menschenjäger Doku-Reihe, 43 min, ZDF Stauffenberg Die wahre Geschichte, Teil 1 Zweiteilige Dokumentation, 90 min, ZDF Terra X Jäger verlorener Schätze: Cold Case Dresden Doku-Drama, 43 Min, ZDF Himmel, Hölle, Fegefeuer Dem Teufel auf der Spur Dokumentarfilm, 43 Min, ZDF

6 PRESS RELEASE 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 06 STABLISTE CAST EDITORIAL & PRODUCTION TEAM FRITZ FUCHS WOLFGANG BUFF KARL ELIASBERG OLGA KVADE N. BORONNIKOWA D. SCHOSTAKOWITSCH Marcus Brandl Tino Mewes Matthias Bundschuh Mercedes Müller Anja Antonowicz Florian Panzner EXECUTIVE PRODUCER ASSOCIATE PRODUCER PRODUCTION MANAGER PRODUCTION ASSISTENT Reinhardt Beetz, GBF Paul Wiederhold Stefan Hoffmann Lilly Hartmann Leonie Rüschoff Rebecca Zaubel CREW DRAMATURGY CONSULTANT COMMISSIONING EDITORS Christian Kaps Marc Brasse, NDR AUTHOR & DIRECTOR (DOCU) DIRECTOR (RE-ENACTMENTS) DOP Christian Frey Carsten Gutschmidt Jürgen Rehberg FUNDING Ulrike Dotzer, NDR/arte Jens Stubenrauch, RBB Sandra Dujmovic, SWR Creative Europe MEDIA Nordmedia Fonds GmbH Marc Riemer Tom Bresinsky Michael Kern Yuri Ermolin SET DESIGN Dennis Duis COSTUME DESIGN Stefanie Jauß MAKE UP ARTIST Yvonne Oppermann SOUND EDITOR Thomas Funk FILM EDITOR Marcel Martens VFX/CGI Eike Wichmann