By Reporter staff

The Binghamton Jewish Film Fest will hold a virtual showing of the film “Martha Liebermann: A Stolen Life.” Andrea Kastner, M.F.A., lecturer in the Department of Art and Design at Binghamton University, will moderate a Zoom discussion of the film. People will be able to register for links to the film and discussion here. Registration is due by Wednesday, November 6. The link will be sent out on Thursday,  November 7; the film will be available for viewing from Thursday-Sunday, November 7-10. The discussion will be held on Sunday, November 10, at 7 pm. The film is in German with subtitles. The film fest is being co-sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Binghamton and the Ithaca Area United Jewish Community. 

The film is based on the real life story of Martha Liebermann, the widow of the artist Max Liebermann. However, at age 85, she is faced with a dilemma: leave her beloved Germany or be deported to a concentration camp. Martha’s friends pressure her into an illegal sale to finance her escape with a resistance group. Gestapo Commissioner Teubner and his henchmen see this as an opportunity to set a trap for opponents of the regime since the art expert consulted works for them. Can Martha trust the art expert who helps, even though he has his own reasons to help the Nazis? 

The film has won or been nominated for numerous awards, including the Best Narrative Feature Award at the Boca International Jewish Film Festival, Golden Nymph Awards for Best Film and Best Actress at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival, nominee at the Venice TV Award for Best TV Movie, nominee for the Hessian TV Award for Best Supporting Performance and nominee for the Venice TV Award Best TV Movie. 

“I am looking forward to the start of this year’s Film Fest and we have an excellent film for the first entry,” said Shelley Hubal, executive director of the Federation. ‘It’s fascinating to see the real life story of an amazing woman come to life on the screen.”