“Die Blumen von gestern” (Yesterday’s flowers) is a comical film about a Holocaust scholar whose own relatives had been prominent perpetrators during the Third Reich. He gets upset when a conference about Auschwitz is turned into a media event – until he meets a French student whose grandmother was murdered in a concentration camp. The film opens Thursday in German cinemas. Director Chris Kraus told DW about the film’s reception in Japan – and why the Holocaust could happen again. DW: The film “Die Blumen von gestern” recently premiered at the international film festivals in Hof, Germany, and Tokyo, Japan. It is now being released in German cinemas. Historically speaking, Japan and Germany have some things in common, though Japan doesn’t deal with its past as openly as Germany does. What were the reactions to the film at the festival in Tokyo? Chris Kraus: We were very glad that the film was shown because Tokyo is an A-list festival. But of course you can think, what does a film about the Holocaust have to do with Japan? A lot, actually. But I didn’t learn exactly how much until I was there. Journalists and audience members asked me why I made the film in the way that I did. During fascism, the history of Germany and Japan had a lot to do with each other: They formed an axis together. Nearly every conversation I had with the Japanese began with: “You Germans do a great job at working through your history.”… [Read full story]
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