But her stories reveal the role she played in perpetuating a prejudice that lead to genocide. With her curly white hair, glasses, and a soft face full of wrinkles, she looks like a benevolent, cookie-baking, story-telling grandmother. Many people would be embarrassed to admit their own ignorance and prejudice, but von Alemann's mother is unafraid. While the beauty of the lavish greens, the warm sun, the gentle rustling of the water cannot be ignored, the loaded conversation quickly begins to dominate the viewer's attention.Īnd that is not the only contrast in appearance. The film opens with the documentary maker herself sitting on the edge of a lush pond with her mother. They sit on park benches or walk down forested paths, but the intensity of their thoughts distract them from the beauty of their surroundings. Letting their conversation flow naturally, the intimate documentary explores how anti-Semitism developed in Germany and how average citizens ignored the evils of the Holocaust.Īlemann juxtaposes the serenity and placidity of the nature shots with the brutality and horrors her speakers are forced to address. She returns to the town of her family's origins where the lush landscapes contrast with the jarring truth her mother shares with daughter and granddaughter. Shadows of Memory caps a series of documentaries von Alemann filmed on the history of Germany, this time turning her lens on the Holocaust. Shadows of Memory is a 2000 documentary by Claudia von Alemann that describes the rise and fall of Hitler from the perspective of a Nazi supporter-Alemann's 84-year-old mother.
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