Two Rivers’ Feature Doc Commissioned By BBC Arts To Commemorate 80th Anniversary Of Auschwitz Liberation

Leading Nations’ indie Two Rivers Media has received a commission from BBC Arts to make feature documentary The Last Musician of Auschwitz. It tells the extraordinary story of Anita Lasker-Wallfisch who, along with other victims of Auschwitz, played and created music amidst the terrors of the Holocaust. The film tells how, despite living in the most brutal and dehumanising of situations, prisoners were secretly composing music whilst in the camps - a powerful testament to the human spirit and the power of creativity.

Commissioned by Suzy Klein, Head of Commissioning, Arts and Classical Music, and Alistair Pegg, Commissioning Editor, Arts and Classical Music, to mark the 80th anniversary of Auschwitz’s liberation, The Last Musician of Auschwitz is also funded by Access, also a funder of Oscar-winning Holocaust drama The Zone of Interest. It will be distributed internationally by Abacus Media Rights.

An interview with the now 99-year-old Lasker-Wallfisch, the only living musician to have played in one of the Auschwitz orchestras, frames this 90-minute documentary. For all the film’s characters, whose fates converged at Auschwitz, music mattered deeply – it was a means of survival; an act of resistance; or a way to feel, fleetingly, human again. 

Alan Clements, Managing Director and Executive Producer, Two Rivers Media, says: “We feel privileged to tell Anita’s story and showcase the music which she and others created.  The access we have gained, not only to Anita and to respective family and friends, but also to cultural and musical archives, means we can tell this profound story in the best way possible, ensuring that this music continues to be widely heard and celebrated.”

The Last Musician of Auschwitz also weaves in the stories of four other musicians from all over Europe, now dead but whose music and words live on: from Krakow, classically trained pianist Adam Kopyciński; from Paris, composer Szymon Laks; from Berlin, choirmaster Martin Rosebery D’Arguto; and, from Prague, singer songwriter, Ilse Weber.  With songs and instrumental works by its featured musicians, the film includes a newly-discovered work by Ilse Weber, never performed since the war, and a poignant lullaby by Adam Kopyciński, written in Auschwitz itself, recorded for the first time.

Danny Cohen, President, Access comments: “This important film tells the story of Auschwitz through the powerful lens of music.  It will be a moving, surprising and sometimes shocking film – an innovative hybrid of observational documentary, expert interview, archive, highly stylised drama and music. We are extremely proud to be involved in this project.”

Suzy Klein, Head of BBC Arts and Classical Music TV, says: “On the 80th anniversary of Auschwitz’s liberation, The Last Musician of Auschwitz shows how music itself can testify both to what these musicians of the Holocaust endured - and how they tried to endure it.  It’s a privilege to be bringing this very special music to a new audience.”

Jonathan Ford, Managing Director, Abacus Media Rights, adds: “The rescue of these people’s stories and their music from oblivion is largely thanks to the devotion of family, friends and dedicated scholars, many of whom feature in this film. This is a powerful  documentary which will resonate worldwide.  We are extremely pleased to be part of it.”

The Last Musician of Auschwitz, a one-off, 90-minute exclusive for BBC Arts, is Executive Produced by Alan Clements for Two Rivers Media.  Danny Cohen and Emily Blavatnik are the Executive Producers for Access. It is developed by Paddy Duffy at Two Rivers, Produced by Deborah Lee and Directed by Toby Trackman.

This commission follows Two Rivers’ recent series commission for BBC Three and iPlayer,   Confessions of a Teenage Fraudster.  Keeping It Up, the feature-length documentary on the story of Viagra, was broadcast by BBC Two’s Storyville in December.  The company’s most recent broadcasts were the high-profile Barbie Uncovered for Sky Documentaries; and series two of the very successful Gemma and Gorka: Life Behind the Lens, following radio presenter Gemma Atkinson and her fiancé, Strictly Come Dancing professional dancer Gorka Márquez, for UKTV.

Press contact              Jill Franklin

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