Thomas Kufus Movies
In the wake of his 98-year-old Jewish grandmother's passing, filmmaker Arnon Goldfinger commences the arduous process of cleaning out the Tel Aviv flat she lived in for 70 years, and makes a shocking discovery that sends him on a revealing journey into his complex family history. When the Nazis seized power in Germany, Goldfinger's grandparents Gerda and Kurt Tuchler fled to Tel Aviv. There, the couple led a rich life, and continued to grow a family. Decades later, after they've both passed away, Goldfinger and his family are cleaning out the flat when they find Nazi propaganda that seems to link his grandparents to a mysterious SS officer. Subsequently determined to learn the truth behind his family's connection to the enemy, Goldfinger begins an incredible journey into the past that reveals how the most profound truths can sometimes be swept under the rug for the sake of sheltering the ones we love most. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- 2011
Filmmaker Thomas Selim Wallner profiles four disturbing cases concerning the controversial US military penitentiary in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in this eye-opening documentary. In 2006, German prisoner Murat Kurnaz was released from Guantanamo Bay after five years. A man of Turkish descent, Kurnaz was brutally tortured during his time behind bars, yet never tried for any crime. The same year Kurnaz regained his freedom, US Navy Judge Advocate Matthew Diaz was sent to the military prison for six months. His crime: making public the names of the many detainees being held in Guantanamo Bay. Meanwhile, "The Torture Memo" author Diane Beaver, found herself at the center of a high profile scandal as a direct result of that controversial legal paper. Meanwhile, Spanish attorney Gonzalo Boyle launches a powerful campaign to hold the U.S. government accountable for their actions at Guantanamo Bay. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
One of the giants of contemporary art offers a look into his creative process and working methods in this documentary. Born in Germany in 1932, Gerhard Richter was a child of World War II, spending his early years in Dresden before it was destroyed, and he began studying art in 1947. By the late 1950s, Richter was regularly exhibiting his work, and he earned a reputation for both realistic and abstract paintings that sometimes incorporated photography into their images. Richter is considered one of the world's most respected artists, and Gerhard Richter Painting offers a look at the artist at work in his studio. Filmmaker Corinna Belz focuses on Richter's technique (using modified squeegees as well as brushes) and his routine in the studio, allowing the artist and his work to speak for themselves. The film also presents a profile of the Richter's history via rare interviews and newsreel footage, as well as following him as he prepares for an exhibit of his new work, taking care to see that the paintings are presented to their best advantage. Gerhard Richter Painting was an official selection at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- 2008
Anna Politkovskaya was a Russian reporter who regularly wrote for Novaya Gazyeta, one of the country's few independent journals. In a nation where political corruption is widespread and exposing the misdeeds of the nation's leaders often has dangerous consequences, Politkovskaya was a fearless voice whose stories demanded responsibility from Vladimir Putin and his colleagues while decrying Russia's actions in Chechnya, which she labeled as genocide. While Politkovskaya writings earned her respect and made her one of the nation's best known journalists, they also angered many powerful people; she nearly died after she was poisoned in 2004 while covering the Beslan school hostage case, and in October 2006 she was shot and killed by an unknown gunman while riding an elevator in her apartment building; many of her friends and family believe she was assassinated by government agents. Filmmaker Eric Bergkraut struck up a friendship with Politkovskaya while making his documentary Coca: The Dove From Chechnya, and Ein Artikel zu viel: Der Mord an Anna Politkowskaja (aka Letter To Anna: The Story Of Journalist Politkovskaya's Death features archival interviews with the late reporter, as well as contributions from colleagues and loved ones who discuss her work and offer their views on her suspicious passing. Letter To Anna received its North American premiere at the 2008 Toronto Hot Docs Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Susan Sarandon
- 2005
In 1965, Yash Pal Suri left his native India with his wife, Sheel, to follow a career in medicine in Great Britain. Suri, who was very close to his family, bought a Super-8 movie camera so he could shoot film of his new surroundings and send them home, allowing his friends and relations to see how he was doing. Years later, Suri's amateur films have become the basis for a documentary by his daughter Sandhya Suri, which tells the story of her family as well as the often rocky road for Indian expatriates in the United Kingdom. As Yash and Sheel had three daughters and made a home in England, the growing number of Indian immigrants became a subject of great controversy with the rise of the extreme right-wing National Front in the 1970s. Fearing for the safety of their son and his family, Yash's parents began pressuring him to return to India, but his decision to abide by their wishes in 1982 creates a whole new set of problems for himself, his wife, and his children. I for India received its North American premiere at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Yash Pal Suri, Sheel Suri, (more)
Award-winning Russian filmmaker Alexander Sokurov (Russian Ark) directs the intimate drama Father and Son (Otets I Syn), a companion piece to his 1996 film Mother and Son. Following the death of his wife, a handsome father (Andrej Shetinin) shares an apartment with his son (Alexei Neimyshev). The son goes to military school to train to be a soldier, while the father remembers his own history as a soldier. The father and son develop a strong emotional and physical attachment to one another. The son's girlfriend starts to grow jealous of the relationship. The son wants to spend more time with the other boys in the military school, but the father doesn't want to let go of him. Composer Andrei Sigle provides the original score, based on themes by Peter Tchaikovsky. Father and Son was shown in competition at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Starring:
- Andrej Shetinin, Alexei Nejmyshev, (more)
- 2000
This documentary by German filmmaker Andres Veiel takes a look back at German politics of the '70s and '80s, a troubled era when the government was engaged in a war against the leftist movement known as the Red Army Fraction. The conflict is addressed by focusing on the lives and deaths of two men whose fates became tragically intertwined in 1989. Alfred Herrenhausen was a high-ranking member of the Deutsche Bank who was killed by a Red Army Fraction bomb attack. Wolfgang Grams, a radical activist, was a major suspect in the attack. Four years later, he was tracked down by police and killed. Through interviews with relatives, friends, and colleagues of both men, a clear picture of the times emerges. While the film makes no attempts to place blame or assign guilt, it does raise many questions about German politics today. ~ Connor McMadden, Rovi
Each film of Alexandre Sokurov, considered by many the living Andrei Tarkovsky of the Russian cinema, is a new revelation. Moloch's narrative structure is based on the relationship between one of the most important figures of the twentieth century, Adolf Hitler, and the only person who ever dared to contradict him, his beloved Eva Braun. The year is 1942. On the majestic terraces of the ominous fortress of Berchtesgaden, perched above the Bavarian Alps, a woman prances in the nude, waving randomly at the spying telescopes. This is the restless Eva (Elena Rufanova), who is waiting for her beloved "Adi," the Fuhrer (eonid Mosgovoi), who arrives with a thunder and bolt. In his entourage are his right-hand man Martin Bormann and his propaganda specialist Joseph Goebbels with his loving wife, Magda. The scene is set for a peaceful retreat of several hours. However, an uncontrollable war is raging in the heart of Eva, who is caught in the complexities of a man incapable of intimacy. Rather than a historical treatise, the film is a psychological study of the man who was the terror of the twentieth century and the person who was the closest to him. The clue to how it all happened seems to be hidden in some of the intimate moments between the two characters. Sokurov is dealing with a very sensitive subject in a film which is a complex reflection on power. Each frame carries the mark of his previous nine films and is a testimony to his meticulous art. Moloch is a very powerful film that gives the impression that time is suspended. Particularly for this reason, it is not recommended to those who like their cinema fast paced and light-hearted. Sokurov used Russian theater actors from St. Petersburg to shoot the film, but their voices were later dubbed by theater actors from Berlin. The film received the Best Screenplay award of the 52nd Cannes Film Festival, 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi
- Starring:
- Yelena Rufanova, Leonid Mozgovoy, (more)
- 1998
Aprilkinder refers to the children of the Turkish guest workers in Germany, most of whom are born in April simply because they are conceived in July during the father's annual trip back to Turkey. Cem works in a sausage factory to support the family. His brother Mehmet sees dealing drugs as his best chance in life, while his sister Dilan is trying hard to seduce Mehmet's shy friend, Arif. When the father brought his children to Germany from the Kurdish part of Turkey fifteen years ago, he excepted a different kind of life. But now he is too disillusioned to care; he is sick and has drawn into an internal exile. The mother tries to hold the family together as she prepares to marry off Cem to a cousin who is to be smuggled into Germany illegally. But Cem is in love with Kim, a prostitute. Based partly on the experiences of director Yüksel Yavuz, who is a second-generation Turkish immigrant in Germany, Aprilkinder is a realistic account of the disillusioned lives of immigrants estranged from their own country and yet always strangers in their adopted land. Aprilkinder was screened as part of the New German Films at the 49th International Berlin Film Festival, 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi
- Starring:
- Erdal Yildiz, Inga Busch, (more)
With a visually stunning, quiet intensity, director Alexander Sokurov awakens the senses to the world of nature, human relationships, and death in this film about the poignant last hours of a dying mother and the son who cares for her. The film begins before the first scene and ends after the last, with the sound of wind in the trees and the songs of birds. Special filters and lenses were used to work with reflecting planes, to manipulate light and shadow as an artist would, and to give added dimension to the full experience of living each moment before death. The mother and son are not named, they live in an isolated, run-down home in the countryside, a vast green landscape of trees and fields. One night they dream the same dream, and the son carries the mother outside, where he reads old postcards to her, and they reminisce about their past...strengthening themselves against the impact of a separation they know is coming soon. Paths -- through the forest, along a railroad track, and that of a sailing boat heading across an infinite body of water -- symbolize the journey the mother has taken and another she will take soon. This combination of the subtle use of images to evoke a greater reality and the astounding use of sound to evoke something unseen but sensed, provides a measure for the depth of the communication and caring between the mother and son. Although Sokurov's evocative, intimate drama begins slowly and so may put off some viewers, it is worth the wait to see how the story is told. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
Klezmer music is a fusion of Eastern European folk tunes with jazz and other influences. It was (and is) the preferred celebratory music of Sephardic, or Eastern European Jewry around the world and is now enjoying a new upswing in popularity. In fact, it is popular in places and among groups far beyond its Gypsy/Jewish origins earlier in this century. Not only has it become well enough known so that riffs from it are heard in a song by folk/country musician Emmylou Harris, but it is now quite fashionable in Germany, which is where this documentary was made. The Epstein Brothers form one of the oldest klezmer bands still playing, and their active retirement is the focus of this documentary. In some sense, the history of their musical association is the history of klezmer. They perform in their retirement community in Florida, but they are frequently invited to perform in New York City and Germany. Of course, the film's best highlight is its music. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- 1994
This German documentary examines life in besieged Sarajevo. Included are interviews with young soldiers who share their feelings about killing, and being killed. One tells of his feelings regarding his accidental shooting of an old woman. Another tells of his life as an aspiring comedian before the conflict. The film might have been more detailed had not the risk in filming it been so great. The filmmakers felt lucky to escape the area with their lives. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1994
This Russian-German co-production represents abstract filmmaking at its purist. Literary themes are presented in a hallucinatory manner as it presents images of grim buildings, street beggars and a series of labyrinthine passages. The film contains minimal dialog. It was filmed in black and white with only a hint of color. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Aleksandr Cherednik, Sergei Barkovsky, (more)
- 1991
This documentary is a compilation of amateur battlefield movies shot by German soldiers during World War Two, along with interviews (from the late 1980s) with some of the men who shot the footage. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
Rating Systems
Blockbuster
BLOCKBUSTER name, design and related marks are trademarks of Blockbuster L.L.C.
2013 Blockbuster L.L.C. All rights reserved.
Portions of Content Provided by Rovi Corporation. 2013 Rovi Corporation.