''The Kaiser of Atlantis''

a documentary about the opera composed in a concentration camp

- De Nederlandse versie vindt u hieronder -

''The Kaiser of Atlantis" is an international documentary in which the story of Viktor Ullmann and his composition is reconstructed. This composition was almost destroyed during WOII and we want to bring its story back to life with this documentary. We are looking for additional funding to finance the Dutch part of this project. The Bellevue Theatre in Amsterdam plays an indispensable role in this documentary because the composition was performed there in 1975.

The film is being directed by Sebastián Alfie and produced by Daniel Rosenfeld, Angela Alvarez, Mariano Nante and Annemiek van Gorp. The project will be shot in Argentine, Spain and the Netherlands and we are looking for a significant sum to realise the Dutch part of the film. Therefore we are looking for donors that want to support us in financing the shootingdays and postproduction in the Netherlands.

This film is being created to play in cinemas worldwide and we are working on getting the film on as many festivals and in as many cinemas as possible.

Nederlands

''The Kaiser of Atlantis''

een documentaire over de in een concentratiekamp gecomponeerde opera.

''The Kaiser of Atlantis" is een internationale documentaire waarin het verhaal van Viktor Ullmann en zijn compositie gereconstrueerd wordt. Deze compositie was in WOII bijna verloren gegaan en wij willen dit verhaal graag weer tot leven brengen in documentaire-vorm. Voor deze film zoeken wij aanvullende financiering om het Nederlandse aandeel in het project te kunnen realiseren. Het Bellevue Theater te Amsterdam speelt een enorm belangrijke rol in deze documentaire omdat de compositie hier in 1975 is uitgevoerd.

De film wordt geregisseerd door Sebastián Alfie en geproduceerd door DanielRosenfeld, Angela Alvarez, Mariano Nante en Annemiek van Gorp. Er wordt gedraaid in Argentinië, Spanje en Nederland en we missen nog een aanzienlijk bedrag om het Nederlandse gedeelte te kunnen filmen. We zoeken donateurs die ons willen steunen om de draaidagen en de postproductie in Nederland te kunnen financieren.

De film wordt gemaakt voor de bioscoop en we werken eraan om de film wereldwijd op zoveel mogelijk festivals en in zoveel mogelijk bioscopen te krijgen.

De film ''The Kaiser of Atlantis''

'The Kaiser of Atlantis', the story of an almost untold masterpiece.
In het bijgevoegde filmplan wordt duidelijk wat voor soort documentaire het moet worden.

Untold story

Imagine there wasn’t a film about Anne Frank, the Warsaw pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman or about Oskar Schindler.
That is the case with “The Kaiser of Atlantis”. There is not one documentary that covers this opera and its incredible background in detail.

With this documentary, we want to reconstruct the Dutch performance of 'The Kaiser of Atlantis'. In 1975, it was conducted by Kerry Woodward in the Bellevue Theatre in Amsterdam. Kerry lives in The Hague where we will also interview him.

Viktor Ullmann, who was deported by the nazi's to Theresienstadt, threw a bottle into the sea of uncertainty, a few days before boarding transport to Auschwitz, where he was murdered. That message has miraculously fallen into our hands, in spite of an extermination plan that included destroying his race and culture.

Heinrich Heine wrote 'Those who begin by burning books, end up by burning men'. In Germany books were burned in 1933 and many musical scores were also burned. However, they fortunately missed this one. In the end, this masterpiece was found, reconstructed and performed in the Netherlands in 1975. It is one of the most powerful compositions.

Rhonda Levine, from the Amsterdam Opera, recognized the importance of this masterpiece. Through discovering Viktor Ullmann and the composition of 'The Kaiser of Atlantis' we will discover what we as human beings are capable of doing, despite having one foot in the abyss.

Crew

De Productie

Annemiek van Gorp and René Goossens have been working together in "De Productie" since September 1998. De Productie produces art-house drama and documentaries with a strong social involvement and an artistic challenge. We regularly participate in co-productions and we work with both budding talent and experienced directors. We try, where possible, to bring the two together. De Productie does not only intend to be a meeting place for local and national talent, but also a reliable partner in international co-productions. We are particularly interested in creative and quirky films that stand by the form chosen and that have an appealing, sometimes bold or controversial subject, in which form, content and emotions are in balance with each other. Our films are often a mix of fiction, documentary and art. We are especially looking for universal stories, straight from the heart, as varied and colourful as the creators of these stories are. Makers of films that are interesting not only for the Dutch market, but also abroad, and that have the potential to grow and reach out for a larger audience.