Director: Ryoya Terao
Producers: Vinit Parmar, Elisabeth Gareis
Description:
The discovery of 13 confiscated driver’s licenses from 1938 leads Lichtenfels, a small town in Germany, to face its horrendous and regrettable past. With no other clue but those licenses, a group of high-school students and their tenacious teacher research the fates of the town’s former Jewish citizens. A year later, an unexpected turn takes place. The modern-day Germans and some of the Jewish descendants from overseas gather in “their hometown,” and a fortuitous friendship begins.
Biography:
Ryoya Terao has co-produced and/or directed documentaries focusing on human-interest subjects. For NHK and PBS, stories include Sled-Dog Dreams about a sled-dog team from an animal shelter; Go Achilles! on disabled athletes from around the globe; Gun Runners on gun-violence through the eyes of former gang members in New York; and Klavierhaus on immigrant brothers who import and restore antique pianos. He also directed Bamboo Bicycle, a story on an innovative bike studio in Brooklyn operated by three young men, hand-crafting bamboo bikes.
Vinit Parmar is an associate professor in the Film Department of Brooklyn College, CUNY. He produces and directs documentary stories. Vinit’s award-winning films, Living River: The Ganges, Quest for Energy, Beyond The Grid, Twice a Refugee and We Stay Here, have been screened in over 50 theaters around the world as well as the UN TV channel.
Elisabeth Gareis teaches courses in intercultural communication at Baruch College, CUNY. Her research focus is on intercultural friendship and its role in prejudice reduction. She received the Presidential Excellence Award for Distinguished Service in and for Distinguished Teaching. She has authored the book Intercultural Friendship: A Qualitative Study, the textbook series A Novel Approach, and numerous journal articles.
