To Life

Author's writings on the practices and traditions of Judaism. (more)

Author's writings on the practices and traditions of Judaism. (less)

(more)

Jonas, a young man on the run, arrives in Berlin just in time to save Ruth's life. Evicted from her apartment, the sarca... (more)

Jonas, a young man on the run, arrives in Berlin just in time to save Ruth's life. Evicted from her apartment, the sarcastic but warm-hearted aging Jewish cabaret singer saw no other way out than suicide. Meanwhile Jonas, driven by a secret, is also fleeing from his love and his future. As Ruth recovers, she and Jonas form a deep bond informed by her own tragic love for a non-Jewish man in post-WWII Germany - a love burdened by the legacy of the horrors perpetrated by Nazi Germany. As Jonas discovers Ruth's past and takes part in her present, his attentions and the passionate, lusty Yiddish songs of her youth help her find the way back to life. In turn, when Ruth learns Jonas is incurably ill, she helps him find the strength to tackle his fears, and to forcefully propose "L'Chaim (3F (BTo Life!" Featuring Hannelore Elsner, the grande dame of German cinema, and versatile young star Max Riemelt, director Uwe Janson weaves a tale that effortlessly shifts between World War II, the post-war generation and today. (less)

Helene, Lili and Rose met in Auschwitz, where the three twenty-year-old Jewish girls were deported. Thanks to German-spe... (more)

Helene, Lili and Rose met in Auschwitz, where the three twenty-year-old Jewish girls were deported. Thanks to German-speaking Dutch Lili, who was working in the camp kitchen, the two French girls survived.. However, after the liberation of the camp, they lost touch. Lili went back to the Netherlands. Rose married a former deportee and settled down in Canada. Helene returned home to France, where she met an old childhood sweetheart, and married him, aware of his impotency caused by sinister doctors carrying out experiments on him in the concentration camp.. Determined to find her old companions, Helene puts an ad in a deportees newspaper. Against all odds, the ad is answered and the women are reunited. The reunion takes place in Berck Plage in the north of France. The women rediscover each other, as well as help each other to overcome their Auschwitz demons.. Nominated for the Variety Piazza Grande Award at the Locarno International Film Festival and the CST Award at the Lumiere Awards. (less)

Fate has taken its toll on the aging cabaret singer Ruth and the young but terminally ill Jonas. Yet despite their great... (more)

Fate has taken its toll on the aging cabaret singer Ruth and the young but terminally ill Jonas. Yet despite their great age difference and their entirely opposite experiences in life, they form an intense bond and give each other a reason and purpose to live. (less)