Arnon Goldfinger’s beautifully composed, emotionally riveting documentary deals with uncomfortable family truths and the challenge of confronting them. At age 98, Goldfinger’s grandmother Gerda Tuchler passed away, leaving him and his family the task of clearing out the Tel Aviv flat that she and her husband shared since immigrating to Palestine from Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Goldfinger was eager to film the apartment before they cleaned it because, despite living in Israel for nearly 60 years, his grandmother remained deeply attached to her German identity, and the contents of her home preserved those roots. But to the family’s surprise, among the objects, pictures, letters and documents they sorted through were some that revealed traces of a troubled and unknown past. Why did Gerda Tuchler and her husband remain on friendly terms with a member of the SS, a Baron von Mildenstein, and his wife?

With the reluctant help of his mother Hannah, Goldfinger finds himself investigating long-buried family secrets involving unexpected national interests, a friendship that crosses enemy lines and deeply repressed family emotions. In the process, we see the difficulties that the second and third generations in both Israel and Germany have in grappling with the past. Undertaking expert research, Goldfinger leads us through his findings in a way that is not only gentle and sensitive, but also compelling and creative.