German director Julia von Heinz will give a personal welcome to the guests of the Opening Gala of the 17th edition of Mastercard OFF CAMERA in Krakow at the European premiere of her latest film “Treasure”. The film is based on a true story described in Lily Brett’s best-selling autobiographical novel in which Lena Dunham plays music journalist Ruth who travels from New York to Poland alongside her father (Stephen Fry) to explore their Jewish roots. The emotional and moving journey leads them through Warsaw, Lodz and Krakow to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Special screening of the film will be held on April 26, 2024
The Mastercard OFF CAMERA International Festival of Independent Cinema 2024 starts in just less than three weeks. Thus, the organizers reveal more and more details. The opening film of this year’s edition of the Festival will be the German-French production “Treasure” shot largely in Poland. The leading roles are played by Lena Dunham and Stephen Fry. The cast includes also Zbigniew Zamachowski, Tomasz Włosok and Sandra Drzymalska. The music for the film was made by the duo Antoni Komasa-Łazarkiewicz and Mary Komasa.
German director Julia von Heinz bases her film on a true story described in Lily Brett’s best-selling autobiographical novel. It caught the eye of Lena Dunham, the star of Girls — she not only performs in one of the two main roles, but also serves as the film’s producer.
She plays music journalist Ruth, who, shortly after the fall of the Iron Curtain, travels from New York to Poland alongside her father (played by acclaimed British actor Stephen Fry). He’s following his Jewish roots: as a Holocaust survivor, the journey is a return, many years later, to the places he chose to leave after World War II. The emotional and moving journey leads them through Warsaw, Lodz and Krakow to the place with which Edek’s most painful memories are connected – the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.
The two characters are guided through a country that’s rising from its ashes by a charming cab driver (Zbigniew Zamachowski), and a succession of people they meet along the way help them fulfill the plan the elderly man has crafted for his journey. Treasure is a story about a search for identity and family ties; it’s an attempt to come to terms with the past as well as the titular treasure — with a touch of warm-hearted humor.
The European premiere of the film in the presence of the filmmakers, including the film director Julia von Heinz, will be held in Kijow Cinema on April 26, 2024, during the Opening Gala of the 17th edition of the Mastercard OFF CAMERA International Festival of Independent Cinema.
Director: Julia von Heinz
Screenplay: Julia von Heinz, John Quester
Cinematography: Daniela Knapp
Music: Antoni Komasa-Łazarkiewicz, Mary Komasa
Cast: Lena Dunham, Stephen Fry, Zbigniew Zamachowski, Tomasz Włosok, Sandra Drzymalska
Country: Niemcy/Francja
Release date: 2024
Running time: 112 min/color
Julia von Heinz, born on June 3, 1976 in West Berlin, is an acclaimed German film director and screenwriter. She began her career as a personal assistant to the director and professor Rosa von Praunheim at the Konrad Wolf Film University of Babelsberg. Her debut feature film “Nothing Else Matters” premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2007 and was awarded at numerous international festivals. Then she shot the documentary film “Standesgemäß” (2008) and in 2012, her children’s film “Hanni & Nanni 2”, based on the series of novels by Enid Blyton, was released successfully in cinemas.
Working together with the directors Tom Tykwer, Chris Kraus, Robert Thalheim and Axel Ranisch, she made the documentary “Pink Children” (2012). In the same year, von Heinz received her Ph.D. in film studies and started teaching at the University of Television and Film in Munich. In addition to her teaching career, she continues to make films. Her greatest international success to date is “And Tomorrow the Entire World” (2020) – a film in which she processed her own experiences as a teenager in Antifa movement.