Stella: A Life
Stella Goldschlag, a young German Jew, grows up in Berlin during the rule of the Nazi regime. Despite all the repressive measures of the time, she still dreams of a career as a jazz singer. After she is forced to go into hiding with her parents in February 1943, her life begins to turn into a culpable tragedy wherein she is inevitably caught by the Gestapo. Tortured and threatened with death, Stella makes the crushing decision to save herself and her parents from deportation to Auschwitz by becoming a "grabber," systematically betraying other Jews by turning them over to authorities.
Featuring a "dynamite performance" (Filmuforia) by Paula Beer (Transit, Undine, and Afire), STELLA: A LIFE tells the shocking real life story of Goldschlag and the great evils ordinary people are capable of when faced with making a morally impossible choice.
Cast
- Paula Beer
- Jannis Niewöhner
- Katja Riemann
- Lukas Miko
DVD Features
Discs: 1
- "Paula Beer turns in another dynamite performance.... Stella. A Life is an effective exploration of the horrors of war and the devastating emotional and physical effects on the victims in their desperate will to survive...."
- "Aesthetically accomplished and well-paced, Stella. A Life is a film whose bubbly appearance conceals some very real cruelty, much like its protagonist..."
Awards & Recognition
Silver Biznaga Audience Award
Festival de Málaga
Best Foreign Language Film
Atlanta Jewish Film Festival
Best Production Design
German Film Awards
Best Costume Design
German Film Awards
Best Makeup
German Film Awards
Best Visual Effects
German Film Awards
Zurich Film Festival
Göteborg Film Festival