East of War (1996)

A controversial photography exhibit about atrocities committed by the German army on the Eastern Front during World War II inspired Ruth Beckermann (HOMEMADE(E); ZORRO'S BAR MITZWA) to interview soldiers about their experiences beyond the bounds of "normal" warfare. An uncompromising film on remembrance and oblivion. "Between interrogation and pity. I must keep a distanced view. How do you film enemies?" (Ruth Beckermann's Shooting Journal) "White-tiled rooms, neon lighting. On the walls, black and white photographs from an exhibition entitled "Vernichtungskrieg" (War of Extermination) documenting the atrocities committed by the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front. Against this background, Ruth Beckermann and cameraman Peter Roehsler film former soldiers talking about their experiences. With a mixture of helplessness, impotence, shame, opportunism and undiminished fanaticism, witnesses from that time tell of atrocities such as the shooting of Russian prisoners-of-war, the murder of Jews, and the abuse of women. The differing accounts of these events demonstrate how selective perception was even in this most inhuman and brutal of environments. The images of this war that take shape in the accounts of these "talking heads" have an immediacy and a power to move that is rarely found in historical documents or fictional portrayals."(Berlinale Forum)