January 31, 2021 10:20 pm
The “Girls!” Actress dares to take more serious roles. Together with Mandy Patinkin, she will direct a Holocaust drama in Poland.
Lena Dunham (34) could take a huge step forward in her career with this film. To date, the actress is best known as a neurotic, young hipster lady from New York City. With a lot of humor and self-irony, it is often about dating, self-discovery and growing up.
As “Variety” reports, their new film “Iron Box” will dare to tackle a much more serious subject.
Adaptation of “Too Many Men”
“Iron Box” is planned as the cinematic adaptation of the bestseller “Too Many Men” by Lily Brett. The main character Ruth settles in as a businesswoman comfortable single life in New York. But her parents’ past troubles her. These had survived the Holocaust as Jewish Polish children.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1990, she was able to persuade her father to travel with her to Poland to look for traces of her ancestors there. Her father accompanies her, but doesn’t really want to stir up the terrible memories.
Post-Holocaust-Drama
In the strictest sense, “Iron Box” is a post-Holocaust drama. The father-daughter story deals with the so-called transgenerational trauma, i.e. the inherited trauma from which many descendants of Shoah survivors suffer.
The role of the father will be taken over by Mandy Patinkin (68). He is known from numerous series such as “Chicago Hope: Endstation Hope”, “Criminal Minds” and “Homeland”.
IMAGO / Everett Collection
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German director
The film is made by the German director Julia von Heinz. The filmmaker made a name for herself around the world with “What counts in the end”, “I’ll be gone” and “And tomorrow the whole world”. As a German submission, the latter is in the “Best Foreign Language Film” category for the Oscar 2021.
Mandy Patinkin is happy about the cooperation. He said to “Variety” in a statement:
“When I first saw her latest film, I knew straight away that I was in the hands of a true filmmaker. She tells a compelling story in every picture and the depictions are as true as I could wish. Then we had a FaceTime call; she was humble, she was kind – two qualities I long to be around her. Then she sent me many books to read and an ancient language to learn. And off we went. “
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Even of Jewish origin
With her main actors, Julia von Heinz chose two people with Jewish roots. Lena Dunham’s mother is Jewish and Mandy Patinkin’s grandmother was.
Dunham talks little to little about how faith played a role in their upbringing. Patinkin, on the other hand, was brought up strictly conservative. He attended a Jewish school, religious summer camps and sang in the choir of his synagogue.
Aftermath-Triologie
“Iron Box” is part of Heinz’s Aftermath trilogy, which deals with the legacy of Germany’s Nazi past in three very different films.
In addition to “And tomorrow the whole world”, “Hanna’s Journey” is also part of the film series.
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