Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2012

JEALOUS OF THE BIRDS focuses on the emotional history of a small community of Holocaust survivors who remained in Frankfurt, Germany after liberation from Nazi death camps and asks the question, why would survivors choose to remain in Germany, shoulder-to-shoulder with their perpetrators? The question churns the imagination, conjuring images of survivors sitting in subway cars beside former members of the Wermacht, driving past signs that read "Dachau," shaking hands with strangers that had once donned the SS uniform. The film's point of view is hybridized between a personal exploration, as the filmmaker confronts his grandparents about questions they had never answered, and a communal discourse, illustrated by historical footage, emotionally charged firsthand accounts, and analysis. The film focuses on this society, highlighting man's ability to rebuild rather than destroy and discussing questions of shame, national identity, and integration. - abridged from Rhode Island International Film Festival