Amateur Photographer 2004, released 2007
Distributed by First Run/Icarus Films, 32 Court St., 21st Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201; 800-876-1710
Produced by Irina Gedrovich
Directed by Irina Gedrovich
DVD, Black& white, 26 min.
College - Adult
Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Photography, World War II
Date Entered: 08/14/2007
Reviewed by Barb Bergman, Minnesota State University, MankatoThe summary of this film sounded interesting: A German soldier who was an amateur photographer preserved his experiences during World War II through his diary and photographs. The mention of his later execution by a Soviet court seemed to promise an interesting story as well. I pictured the potential for a discussion of his actions and his trial raising questions of “was he evil, amoral, or ‘just following orders’?” Unfortunately, the film does not address these issues and is far more confusing than it is enlightening.
The entire film consists of images from Gerhard’s photo album with a narration of the accompanying captions. There is no explanatory narration other than Gerhard’s own words. Therefore, outside knowledge about the war is necessary (such as deducing that “the partisans” must be the Russian troops.) The contrast of a matter-of-fact account of murdered Jews and others with the more emotional description about his future wife is somewhat shocking, but other films show such contrasts more successfully than this one. The film ends with the statement that he was executed, but does not indicate why – was he convicted merely because he possessed the photos or because he showed no remorse for his participation in war atrocities? This film is likely to generate questions, but more likely of the “what happened? I don’t understand” variety instead of higher level discussions of morality that it appears to intend.
Audio here is unusual. All dialogue is repeated in German and then English, instead of using subtitles or having different language tracks on the DVD. The inclusion of a soundtrack of German songs made it especially difficult to listen for the English as it alternated with the German. Visual quality is adequate—all images are of Gerhard’s black and white photographs.
Possibly of use in college level history classes, but only with thorough introduction. Not recommended.
Awards:
- 2005 Grand Prix, Humanity in the World Film Festival
- 2005 Best Short Documentary, Jewish Eye Film Festival
- 2005 Award for Artistic Reflection of Reality, Ekaterinburg Film Festival