World
Treasured Jewish film Nazis tried to destroy is rescued
A powerful warning of fascism long feared lost, Europa is now being screened at the London Film Festival
October 8, 2021 14:24
A powerful warning of fascism long feared lost, Europa is now being screened at the London Film Festival
October 8, 2021 14:24Made by a Polish-Jewish couple, it is an anti-fascist film masterpiece that was feared to have been destroyed by the brutal vandalism of the Nazis.
But Stefan and Franciszka Themersons’ Europa has now been restored and is being shown for the first time in more than 80 years.
Based on Anatol Stern’s 1925 futurist poem of the same name, the film from 1931 was a prescient cri de guerre against the rise of fascism in Europe. Its stream of images powerfully illustrated Stern’s despair over the continent’s deepening political crisis.
Made in the couple’s bedroom in Warsaw, Europa was considered a landmark as the first noteworthy avant-garde film from Poland.
In 1938, the Themersons moved to France and deposited all copies of their 12-minute film at the Vitfer film laboratory in Paris.
The prints were seized by the Nazis after the invasion of France, and were thought to have been destroyed.
Europa took on near-mythical status among cineastes who believed it had been lost for ever.
However, a copy was discovered by chance in the German Federal Archives in Berlin two years ago.
It was given to the estate of the Themersons, thanks to Commission for Looted Art in Europe. The 35mm nitrate film was then donated to the British Film Institute (BFI) archive.
Now converted into a 2K digital version, while the original print is carefully preserved, Europa is finally being shown for the first time anywhere in the world for almost a century as part of the BFI London Film Festival this month.
The Themersons first met in Warsaw in 1930. They survived the war and went on to have a lifelong collaboration as writers, filmmakers and illustrators. They moved to London, where they died weeks apart in 1988, leaving an impressive legacy and an unparalleled repertoire of art and assorted projects.
Ahead of the film’s long-awaited screening, Ben Roberts, CEO for the BFI said: “We are honoured to be part of this valuable film’s incredible story, by preserving Europa’s original nitrate film in our collection and helping to make this significant piece of anti-fascist work available now and for the future.
“We are delighted to finally reunite Europa with the Themersons’ other original work held by the BFI.”