Berlinale
Lena Dunham shocked by “anti-Semitic rhetoric”.
Lena Dunham stars in the film “Treasure”. photo
© Sebastian Gollnow/dpa
It is her first major international production: Julia von Heinz made a film with Lena Dunham and Stephen Fry. Those involved find the story about the legacy of the Holocaust more relevant than ever.
American actress and director Lena Dunham has complained about a “shocking amount of anti-Semitic rhetoric” in parts of society. The 37-year-old Jewish actress is part of Julia von Heinz’s new film “Treasure”, which was scheduled to premiere at the Berlinale.
It’s important to recognize “that there is an incredible and shocking amount of anti-Semitic rhetoric on the far right, whether here or in the United States,” said Dunham, who became known for the series “Girls.” “And there’s also a shocking amount of Islamophobic rhetoric, anti-Black rhetoric, transphobic rhetoric. The goal is to isolate people based on their identity and make them feel inhuman. And that’s a universal story, unfortunately .”
Fry is Jewish himself
In “Treasure,” Dunham plays a music journalist who travels with her father (Stephen Fry), a Holocaust survivor, through his home country of Poland. The film is based on a bestselling novel by Lily Brett. The two protagonists are confronted with anti-Semitism.
The Brit Fry (66) – also known as a presenter, author and comedian – is also Jewish. His ancestors were murdered during the Nazi era. He talked about this in Berlin. “The truth about the Holocaust is still there, and the legacy and the impact on people. And of course it was a very special feeling for me to go to Auschwitz to film there, being there for the first time and knew that my family had perished in this place.”
Von Heinz (47, “And Tomorrow the Whole World”) said that the Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7th made the film even more relevant. “When it happened, we all exchanged messages and felt that this had something to do with the film we were making,” she said. “And we decided to finish it early and show it at the Berlinale. So, yes, I tried to finish it very quickly and I only finished it the day before yesterday to present it here because we feel like that this is exactly the right moment for this film.”