The Photographer of Mauthausen (2018)
The Spanish biographical drama film, The Photographer of Mauthausen (2018), directed by Mar Targarona, is set in 1943 during the height of World War II. Life in the Mauthausen camp is a merciless and cruel existence for its inmates, including soldiers who fought and lost in the Spanish Civil War. These men were exiled from Spain by General Franco after his victory, considered ‘no man’s land’ and gifted to the Third Reich as free labor. Against this backdrop of eternal horror and brutality inflicted by Nazis and Kapos (violent inmate guards), a young man named Francesc Boix struggles to survive as a photographer under the wing of Paul Ricken, warden of Mauthausen. Boix’s daily routine – taking photos, chatting with fellow inmates like Balbuena and Fonseca, and compiling records of deceased prisoners who attempted escape – takes a dramatic turn when they discover through their amateur radio that the Third Reich has suffered defeat against the Soviet Army at the Battle of Stalingrad.
Worried that the Nazis, particularly Ricken and his followers, will destroy any evidence of their atrocities if they lose the war, Boix becomes fixated on preserving all negatives of the photos depicting the heinous acts committed by SS officers such as Franz Ziereis. However, when an inmate’s attempt to escape and reveal the truth to the public is thwarted, Boix must come up with a new plan to outsmart Ricken and Ziereis and safeguard the photos. As time runs short and the order to burn everything is given, can Boix save the evidence and also survive in order to expose the truth to the world?
Date of download: 2015-11-11T17:22:34+00:00
| Cast: |
Mario Casas
Richard van Weyden
Alain HernándezThe Spanish biographical drama film, The Photographer of Mauthausen (2018), directed by Mar Targarona, is set in 1943 during the height of World War II. Life in the Mauthausen camp is a merciless and cruel existence for its inmates, including soldiers who fought and lost in the Spanish Civil War. These men were exiled from Spain by General Franco after his victory, considered ‘no man’s land’ and gifted to the Third Reich as free labor. Against this backdrop of eternal horror and brutality inflicted by Nazis and Kapos (violent inmate guards), a young man named Francesc Boix struggles to survive as a photographer under the wing of Paul Ricken, warden of Mauthausen. Boix’s daily routine – taking photos, chatting with fellow inmates like Balbuena and Fonseca, and compiling records of deceased prisoners who attempted escape – takes a dramatic turn when they discover through their amateur radio that the Third Reich has suffered defeat against the Soviet Army at the Battle of Stalingrad.
Worried that the Nazis, particularly Ricken and his followers, will destroy any evidence of their atrocities if they lose the war, Boix becomes fixated on preserving all negatives of the photos depicting the heinous acts committed by SS officers such as Franz Ziereis. However, when an inmate’s attempt to escape and reveal the truth to the public is thwarted, Boix must come up with a new plan to outsmart Ricken and Ziereis and safeguard the photos. As time runs short and the order to burn everything is given, can Boix save the evidence and also survive in order to expose the truth to the world?
