Der Reichseinsatz - Zwangsarbeiter in Deutschland Backdrop Blur
Der Reichseinsatz - Zwangsarbeiter in Deutschland Poster
7.0 1h 57m

Der Reichseinsatz - Zwangsarbeiter in Deutschland

During World War II, 8 million people from abroad were forced to work in Germany, making up 30% of the workforce. By 1993, when a film on this topic was completed, there was little public awareness in Germany of this massive mobilisation of slave labour. The film explores the victims’ perspectives and the perpetrators’ motivations and methods, detailing how the system evolved from recruiting Italian volunteers to deportation, racist oppression, and slave labour. Director Wolfgang Bergmann used archive material from 10 countries and eyewitness accounts from 8 European states. Forced labourers were a visible part of German society, yet their legality and the guilt of those responsible were rarely questioned, even after Germany’s surrender. This chapter of history was largely repressed and forgotten. The film was made after the 1989 changes, during a time when xenophobic crimes were rising, with West German right-wing extremists gaining followers in East Germany.

Top Cast

Overview

During World War II, 8 million people from abroad were forced to work in Germany, making up 30% of the workforce. By 1993, when a film on this topic was completed, there was little public awareness in Germany of this massive mobilisation of slave labour. The film explores the victims’ perspectives and the perpetrators’ motivations and methods, detailing how the system evolved from recruiting Italian volunteers to deportation, racist oppression, and slave labour. Director Wolfgang Bergmann used archive material from 10 countries and eyewitness accounts from 8 European states. Forced labourers were a visible part of German society, yet their legality and the guilt of those responsible were rarely questioned, even after Germany’s surrender. This chapter of history was largely repressed and forgotten. The film was made after the 1989 changes, during a time when xenophobic crimes were rising, with West German right-wing extremists gaining followers in East Germany.

Rating

7.0 / 10
1 Reviews
0 Popular

Recommendations

Night Will Fall

When Allied forces liberated the Nazi concentration camps in 1944-45, their terrible discoveries were recorded by army and newsreel cameramen, revealing for the first time the full horror of what had happened. Making use of British, Soviet and American footage, the Ministry of Information’s Sidney Bernstein (later founder of Granada Television) aimed to create a documentary that would provide lasting, undeniable evidence of the Nazis’ unspeakable crimes. He commissioned a wealth of British talent, including editor Stewart McAllister, writer and future cabinet minister Richard Crossman – and, as treatment advisor, his friend Alfred Hitchcock. Yet, despite initial support from the British and US Governments, the film was shelved, and only now, 70 years on, has it been restored and completed by Imperial War Museums under its original title "German Concentration Camps Factual Survey".

Night Will Fall

7.6 2014
Seduced and Abandoned

SEDUCED AND ABANDONED combines acting legend Alec Baldwin with director James Toback as they lead us on a troublesome and often hilarious journey of raising financing for their next feature film. Moving from director to financier to star actor, the two players provide us with a unique look behind the curtain at the world's biggest and most glamourous film festival, shining a light on the bitter-sweet relationship filmmakers have with Cannes and the film business. Featuring insights from directors Martin Scorsese, 'Bernando Bertolucci' and Roman Polanski; actors Ryan Gosling and Jessica Chastain and a host of film distribution luminaries.

Seduced and Abandoned

6.2 2013