Directed by Christoph Weinert, 2024

The astonishing story of the Jewish-owned, Berlin-based Semer record label, which produced recordings of Jewish artists from 1932-38 in the midst of growing Nazi repression and terror. Destroyed by the Gestapo on November 9th, 1938 (“Kristallnacht”), the Semer label and its hundreds of recordings were completely forgotten until the late 1990s, when Dr. Rainer Lotz stumbled onto their trail. The film tells the dramatic story of how the recordings were eventually recovered. It also features a beautifully shot and recorded concert by the Semer Ensemble, led by Alan Bern, which has taken on the mission of recreating and performing the Semer label music for today’s audiences and preserving the memory of the original artists, many of whom perished in the Holocaust.

With Alan Bern, Paul Brody, Daniel Kahn, Mark Kovnatskiy, Martin Lillich, Sasha Lurje, Fabian Schnedler, and Lorin Sklamberg.

Language: English with German subtitles & German voice-over