JIFF 2018: The Invisibles (Die Unsichtbaren)

The Story

“If this film were fully fiction, people wouldn’t believe it.” — Director Claus Räfle

Combining edge-of-the-seat dramatisations with survivor testimonies, The Invisibles brings emotion and authenticity to the little-known story of Jewish teens and young adults who outlasted the Third Reich while hiding in Berlin. While Goebbels infamously declared Berlin ‘free of Jews’ in 1943, some 1,700 managed to survive in Nazism’s capital until liberation. Claus Räfle’s gripping docudrama traces the stories of four real-life survivors who learned that sometimes the best place to hide is in plain sight. While moving between cinemas, cafés and safe houses they dodged Gestapo and a dense network of spies and informants, knowing that certain death was just one mistake away. Yet their prudence was at odds with their youthful inclination towards recklessness, sometimes prompting them to join the resistance, forge passports, or pose as Aryan war widows. Masterfully weaving the different story threads together, The Invisibles is a testament to the resourcefulness, chutzpah, and sheer chance that permit us to survive against incredible odds.

Rating

CTC

Country

DE

Language

German

Cast

Max Mauff, Alice Dwyer, Ruby O. Fee, Aaron Altaras

Director

Claus Räfle