The Windermere Children is a 2020 British biographical drama television film written by Simon Block and directed by Michael Samuels. Based on the experience of child survivors of the Holocaust, it follows the children and staff of a camp set up on the Calgarth Estate in Troutbeck Bridge, near Lake Windermere, England, where the survivors were helped to rehabilitate, rebuild their lives, and integrate into the British society. The film was produced by Simon Block as 'executive producer' with Nancy Bornat as factual producer and Ben Evans as development producer. The film first aired on BBC Two in January 2020.[2]
| The Windermere Children | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Genre | Biographical film |
| Written by | Simon Block |
| Directed by | Michael Samuels |
| Starring | |
| Theme music composer | Alex Baranowski |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom Germany |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producer | Alison Sterling[1] |
| Cinematography | Wojciech Szepel |
| Editor | Victoria Boydell |
| Running time | 88 mins. |
| Production companies | Wall to Wall Media Warner Bros. ITVP Germany |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC Two |
| Release | 26 January 2020 |
Cast edit
- Iain Glen as Jock Lawrence
- Romola Garai as Marie Paneth
- Thomas Kretschmann as Oscar Friedmann
- Tim McInnerny as Leonard Montefiore
- Philipp Christopher as Georg Lauer
- Kuba Sprenger as Ike Alterman
- Anna Schumacher as Edith Lauer
- Marek Wroblewski as Shmuel
- Pascal Fischer as Ben Helfgott
- Jakub Jankiewicz as Salek Falinower
- Kacper Swietek as Chaim Olmer
- Tomasz Studzinski as Arek Hersh
- Lukasz Zieba as Juliusz
Production edit
The real Calgarth Estate was demolished in the 1960s. The Lakes School near Windermere now stands on the former site of the wartime housing scheme that actually housed the children in 1945.[3][4][5][6]
Although set in the Lake District, the production was actually filmed in locations around Northern Ireland.[citation needed]
Reception edit
As of October 2021[update], the film holds a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 11 reviews with an average rating of 8.5/10.[7]
Awards edit
In October 2020, The Windermere Children won the Best European TV Movie of the Year prize at Prix Europa. A jury member commented "This story gives hope, told with a twinkle in the eye, making the children's stories, their traumas and their losses manageable for the viewer."[8]
References edit
- ^ "The Windermere Children". BBC. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
- ^ Lewis, Tim (5 January 2020). "From Nazi camps to the Lake District: the story of the Windermere children". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
- ^ "The Windermere Children". Media Centre. BBC. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
- ^ Singh, Anita (27 January 2020). "The Windermere Children, review: a sad, beautiful refugee story with an ending that took the breath away". The Telegraph. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
- ^ Gentleman, Amelia (27 January 2020). "The Windermere Children review – how the Lakes saved the lives of Nazi survivors". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
- ^ Philpot, Robert (27 January 2020). "BBC airs 'Windermere children': How Holocaust survivors went from hell to heaven". Times of Israel. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
- ^ "The Windermere Children (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
- ^ "PRIX EUROPA 2020 Best European TV Movie of the Year: The Windermere Children" (PDF). PRIX EUROPA. 2020. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
