The Windermere Children
The Windermere Children is a 2020 biographical drama film written by Simon Block and directed by Michael Samuels. Based on the experience of child survivors of the Holocaust, it follows the children and staff of a camp set up on the Calgarth Estate in Troutbeck Bridge, near Lake Windermere, England, where the survivors were helped to rehabilitate, rebuild their lives, and integrate into the British society. The film was produced by Simon Block as 'executive producer' with Nancy Bornat as factual producer and Ben Evans as development producer.
The Windermere Children | |
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Genre | Biographical film |
Written by | Simon Block |
Directed by | Michael Samuels |
Starring | |
Theme music composer | Alex Baranowski |
Country of origin | United Kingdom Germany |
Original language(s) | English |
Production | |
Producer(s) | Alison Sterling[1] |
Cinematography | Wojciech Szepel |
Editor(s) | Victoria Boydell |
Running time | 88 mins. |
Release | |
Original network | BBC Two |
Original release |
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Cast
- Iain Glen as Jock Lawrence
- Romola Garai as Marie Paneth
- Thomas Kretschmann as Oscar Friedmann
- Tim McInnerny as Leonard Montefiore
- Philipp Christopher as Georg Lauer
- Kuba Sprenger as Ike Alterman
- Anna Schumacher as Edith Lauer
- Pascal Fischer as Ben Helfgott
- pl:Jakub Jankiewicz as Salek Falinower
- Kacper Swietek as Chaim Olmer
- Tomasz Studzinski as Arek Hersh
Production
The real Calgarth Estate was demolished in the 1960s. The Lakes School near Windermere now stands on the former site of the wartime housing scheme that actually housed the children in 1945.[2][3][4][5]
Although set in the Lake District, the production was actually filmed in locations around Northern Ireland.
Reception
As of July 2020, the film holds a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on five reviews with an average rating of 8.5/10.[6]
References
- "The Windermere Children". BBC. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
- "The Windermere Children". Media Centre. BBC. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
- Singh, Anita (27 January 2020). "The Windermere Children, review: a sad, beautiful refugee story with an ending that took the breath away". The Telegraph. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
- Gentleman, Amelia (27 January 2020). "The Windermere Children review – how the Lakes saved the lives of Nazi survivors". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
- Philpot, Robert (27 January 2020). "BBC airs 'Windermere children': How Holocaust survivors went from hell to heaven". Times of Israel. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
- "The Windermere Children (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 13 July 2020.