Life-saving Fakery

“Sometimes a little deception is needed in a world of tragedy and trickery, in order to save what is true and real. ‘The Forger’ tells just such a tale.” - Mountain Shadow Director, John Bennison

THE FORGER is a dynamic and emotional biopic set in World War II Berlin and revolving around the historical figure Cioma Schönhaus. Cioma is a young man full of curiosity about life and love. His drive is overwhelming, his acumen great, and his boyish charm infectious. But it’s 1942 and Cioma is Jewish – but despite the discrimination and scorn he endures, he finds a way to assert himself. We didn’t want to make a classic film about the Nazi era, but to tell Cioma’s story in an emotional way.

Thanks to his lust for life, he doesn’t lose heart even in the darkest times, but reduces loyalty to the regime and any stigmatization to absurdity. Cioma does not want to fit into any pigeonhole and shakes us all up. The past must not be repressed, but retold again and again in different narrative perspectives: Through the individual fates of Cioma and his companions, director Maggie Peren has portrayed a Third Reich that eschews familiar images and for this very reason is certain to play a crucial role in today’s discourse. We experience the cruelty, the absurdity of this time in miniature. And yet all the characters have facets that make them not simply good or evil.

Besides what is overt and conspicuous, hidden racism lurks around every corner, often casually revealed and – without much fuss – shaken to the core. It doesn’t require a swastika flag waving in the wind or swanky uniforms marching across familiar squares. Everyday racism builds a bridge to the here and now.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
By Maggie Peren

Cioma Schönhaus story is the story of a person who rebels against stigmatization. The regime of terror is present, but we do not offer the Nazis a platform. We see them through Cioma’s eyes as we see everything through his eyes. The most difficult thing for me as a director was to do justice to the lightness of the novel and at the same time tell how people hate Jews as a matter of course, thinking that they are friendly and nice after all. It was important to me to raise awareness that racism doesn’t come out of nowhere. The roots go deep into our society.