Available to Stream October 27 - 30th

Director

Magnus Gertten

Year

2022

Country

Sweden, Belgium, Norway (In English, French, Swedish, and Spanish with English subtitles)

Running Time

92 Minutes
Sponsored by AARP

Awards

Winner: Teddy Award (Best Intl. Queer Film) – Berlinale 2022
Winner: Mariposa Award (Best Film) – Festival Mix Mexico 2022
Winner: Audience Award (Best Documentary) – Pink Apple Film Festival

Synopsis

Ravensbrück concentration camp, Christmas Eve 1944: A female inmate is ordered to sing Christmas carols, when a voice calls out “Sing something from Madame Butterfly!” Hauntingly, the singer chooses “Un bel di”—the ultimate expression of longing and hope. So begins the long-hidden, extraordinary love story of two prisoners from the Resistance: professional mezzo soprano Nelly Mousset-Vos and Nadine Hwang, the opera-loving requester. From the bowels of hell itself, their relationship blossoms and transforms into a deepening love that sustains them through liberation of the camps, post-war separation, and finally to Caracas, Venezuela, where, far from the world they left behind, they begin to build a life together.

Now Nelly’s granddaughter Sylvie, keeper of the family archives and its secrets, delves into the past and uncovers a trove of writing, films, and photos that her family has ignored for decades. What she finds is a moving testimony to a relationship that transcended the Holocaust itself. Winner of the Teddy Jury Award at the 2022 Berlin International Film Festival, this moving documentary is a fascinating portrait of enduring love.

  • Victoria Jaschob