The Maelstrom - A Family Chronicle

This unique documentary uses home footage filmed in Holland before and during WWII, showing events from the daily life of the Peereboom family and other scenes of occupied Holland. The story is told through these footages, as well as family photos and soundtrack that consists of period music, radio broadcasts (such as Queen Wilhelmina's speech of 1940) and authentic jazz music composed by Tibor Szemzo, regular partner of the film director Peter Forgacs. The viewer is exposed to Jewish family living naively in the shadow of the Holocaust and later trying to handle the new unfamiliar life. Among others, there is a shot of the family we come to know, cheerfully sewing and doing general preparation for a trip to a "work camp" when their final destination was in reality Auschwitz. The film was awarded the "Jewish Experience" Prize at the Jerusalem International Film Festival for the Best Documentary.