A key theme of the 2015 LFF was the consistent high quality
of the documentaries: while many of the fictional films did not meet
expectations, their factual counterparts often surpassed them. One such, and one of the best films at the festival full
stop, was My Nazi Legacy (otherwise known as What Our Fathers Did).
.Never less than gripping throughout, it charts the road trip
(for want of a better word) taken by two elderly Germans, Niklas Frank and
Horst von Wachter, to the sites of their fathers’ pasts: both are sons of
senior Nazi officers, one hates his father, the other loves his. The cruel
irony? These two men are lifelong friends…
Their trip is marshalled by Philippe Sands QC, an
international lawyer whose Jewish family was almost entirely wiped out by the
Nazis.
This is compelling viewing, succinctly narrated by Sands.
The dynamics between the three men are closely but never harshly observed
throughout.
One key sequence as the three visit an open grave requires
the cameraman to make a split decision: as the trio stand apart from each
other, lost in thought and their own demons, the cameraman must make the
decision who to film – and he makes the right call.
This is emotional film-making (how could it not be, given
the subject), but Sands and director David Evans maintain an informed, interrogative approach throughout.
Score: 9/10
My Nazi Legacy is released on 20 November.
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