Film Archive

Unknown Soldier, The - What Did You Do in the War, Dad? (unbekannte Soldat, Der)

The Wehrmacht-Exhibition, which was shown in eleven major cities between 1999 and 2004 and was visited by more than 500,000 attendants, challenged an established social taboo. Up to that point, the image of the 'morally proper' German forces had been kept up in the public debate in Germany. Suddenly, there were photos of Wehrmacht officers killing civilians. The nation was severely shaken. Any participation of the German forces in Nazi crimes was unbearable to the people in post-war Germany, so it continued to be publicly denied.

Michael Verhoeven has traced some of the crimes the Wehrmacht is alleged to have committed. And filmed in the places of terror in the Ukraine and White Russia.

Michael Verhoeven was born in Berlin in 1938 into an acting and directing family. He studied Medicine in Berlin and Munich and qualified as a doctor in 1969. He appeared as an actor on the stage and screen in the early 50s and 60s and has been working as a screenwriter, producer and director since 1967. His award-winning films include: Dance of Death (Paarungen, 1968), O.K. (1970), A Terrific Exit (Ein unheimlich starker Abgang, 1973), Sunday Children (Sonntagskinder, 1979), The White Rose (Die weisse Rose, 1982), The Nasty Girl (Das schreckliche Maedchen, 1989), My Mother's Courage (Mutters Courage, 1995), Zimmer mit Fruehstueck (TV, 1999), Uncovering of a Marriage (Enthuellung einer Ehe, TV, 2000), The Unknown Soldier - What Did You Do in the War, Dad? (Der unbekannte Soldat, 2006), and Human Failure (Menschliches Versagen, 2008).
 

Genre History
Category Documentary Cinema
Year of Production 2006
Director Michael Verhoeven
Screenplay Michael Verhoeven
Directors of Photography Stefan Schindler, Valentin Kurz, Knut Muhsik
Editor Gabriele Kroeber
Music by Martin Grubinger, Mike Herting
Producer Michael Verhoeven
Production Company Sentana Film/Munich, in co-production with EIKON Media/Berlin
Length 97 min
Format DigiBeta
Blow-up 35 mm, Color, 1:1.85
Original Version German/English/Ukrainian
Subtitled Versions English
Sound Technology Dolby SR
Festival Screenings Warsaw 2006, Vancouver 2006, Palm Springs 2007, Goeteborg 2007, Berlin & Beyond San Francisco 2007
With backing from BKM, FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, Filmstiftung NRW
German Distributor Kinowelt Filmverleih/Leipzig

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