STEFAN ZWEIG: FAREWELL TO EUROPE, a film written and directed by Maria Schrader, and Austria’s official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film for the 89th Academy Awards®, already opened at Lincoln Plaza in New York on May 12, and will open on June 16 at the Laemmle Theaters in Los Angeles. Other cities will follow.
The film episodically tells the story of the Austrian Jewish writer Stefan Zweig and his life while in exile from 1936 to 1942. Best known in the US for his novellas “The Royal Game” and “Letter from an Unknown Woman”, that was later adapted into a film directed by Max Ophüls, starring Joan Fontaine. His writings have also inspired Wes Anderson’s “Grand Budapest Hotel”.
Stefan Zweig (next to Thomas Mann) was the most-translated German-speaking writer of his time, but having been driven into emigration at the peak of his worldwide fame, Zweig falls into despair at the sight of Europe’s downfall, which he had anticipated early on. Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, New York, Petrópolis are four stations in Stefan Zweig’s exile, which despite offering him safe refuge and overwhelming tropical nature, won’t help him find peace and won’t be able to replace his home.
STEFAN ZWEIG: FAREWELL TO EUROPE is the story of a refugee, a tale of losing one’s home and of the search for a new one. It is a visually stunning historic picture about a great artist and, at the same time, a film about a time in which Europe was coming apart. U.S. Release by First Run Features.
About the director/writer Maria Schrader:
Two-time winner of the German Film award and two-time winner of the Bavarian Film award, Maria Schrader worked with directors such as Margarethe von Trotta, Doris Dörrie (“Nobody Loves Me”), Hans W. Geissendörfer, Peter Greenaway, Rajko Grilic and Agnieszka Holland (“In Darkness”). In 1999, at the Berlinale, she received the Silver Bear for Best Actress in “Aimée & Jaguar” directed by Max Färberböck. Recently, she thrilled television audiences in the Emmy award-winning and internationally renowned series “Deutschland 83” (2015).
Maria co-directed “The Giraffe” with Dani Levy (1998). Her directorial debut “Love Life” was shot in Israel in 2007 and was based on Zeruya Shalev’s novel by the same title. The film premiered at the Festa del Cinema in Rome in 2007. “Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe” is her second feature as a director; she was nominated for Best Director at the German Film Awards this year.
Click here for trailer.