PRODUCTION NOTES
from Phillip M. Lacy
cinematographer & editor

HISTORY IN YOUR HAND

It was obvious from the beginning that the story of Inge’s flight from Hitler’s Germany was remarkable.  The number of times that they were right on the edge, a second’s difference here, a hesitation there, and it would have been all over for them, but despite hearing of her life, both from her and from her family and friends whom Clay interviewed,  it was a single moment that made all that I had heard real for me.  When Inge handed Clay and me her passport, it was quite an experience, holding something in my hand that wasn’t just Inge’s, but was a part of history.  The texture, the photograph, the Nazi stamps, the large red J with the date scrawled in the shaft, it was profound.  Knowing what it symbolized, and who had had it in their hands, and what they represented, really struck a chord with me.  While I can’t do the experience justice with words, I know I will never forget touching a piece of history.

NARRATION

Early on in the editing process, the question of narration or no narration came up.  Inge’s story was the personal side of one of the most analyzed and tragic historical events in the twentieth century, and a narrator navigating this complex issue and filling in the broader historical perspective would have been an effective technique; however, since Clay was able to get Inge’s story in her own words, it could have come across as interference.  Going with no narration and only telling Inge’s story through the interviewees meant that we needed to have at least two accounts of the events to adequately describe it for the audience.  This presented challenges during Inge’s early years and eliminated several intriguing stories that simply had no secondary reference.

WATER

I was surprised to hear that at 86 years old, Inge still swam regularly.  After Clay interviewed her kids, I found that swimming had always been a part of her life.  In looking for an anchor to tie the film together, as the editor and cinematographer, the idea of photographing Inge swimming became the perfect visual metaphor that symbolized the obstacles in her life, and her determination to face it head on and to continue through it.  After shooting several sequences, including some with an underwater camera, the simple shot of a single lap towards the camera seemed to best encompass all of the qualities, visually and metaphorically.  When putting it together, though, first inserting at the beginning of the film and then at the end, it didn't seem to work.  Just as I was about to remove it completely from the film, Clay suggested that we break it up into segments and insert it throughout the film to give it the feeling of her life, swimming slow and steady, taking it as it came, one chapter of her life flowing into the next.  It was also his suggestion to use no music over those sequences.  Beginning and ending the film, as well as inserting cuts at various stages, perfectly balanced Inge’s life as a journey that she takes one stroke at a time.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

In wanting to do more than just capture a clean image,  a stylistic choice was made in pre-production in regards to the look of the film and its relationship to the locations in which it was shot.  I knew Clay was going to be shooting Inge in her own home and, due to the space and the lighting conditions, shooting standard HD was the most appropriate and would be the most visually pleasing.  The HD also gave a more “this is happening live, this is her life in the moment” quality that really worked for her telling her story, of which Clay's interviewing her would actually become a part.  For the interviewees who were coming to the studio, I discussed with Clay that we should go with the 24P look to enhance the “memory/history” quality of what they were saying.  I advocated to Clay, who has been a cinematographer himself, that the soft, smooth feel of the 24P would help to visually enhance the timeless quality of their testimony.  He agreed to let me do it.  I continued this visual style throughout the film with any on-location interviews and cutaways in an attempt to make them feel more “now” and of the moment, rather than something from the past.

HISTORIC FOOTAGE

World War II is probably the first of the well-documented events in the Twentieth Century and the footage has been seen by nearly everyone in some form or another over the past sixty-plus years.  Clay knew we weren’t going to be breaking new ground by including historical footage, but he also knew that excluding any footage could diminish the relevance of Nazi Germany.  Few men in history bring up more emotions when seen on screen than Adolf Hitler so as a shortcut and maybe pale reflection of what Inge was facing in Germany, I included scenes of Hitler and the Nazi regime in the editing and felt – even for the brief seconds that I used them – that they helped immensely in solidifying the authentic natural feelings of danger and truly horrifying circumstances that Inge’s family faced.

RECOGNITION DESERVED

From the first time that Clay told me about Inge’s story, I was in.  Knowing that Inge was one of the exceptions of Hitler’s Germany in that she and her mother and father got out together, literally on the last ship as the Nazi’s were rounding up the Jews, was so compelling and full of drama that I knew that I had to help Clay bring this story to the public.  But as the tapes of the interviews began to pile up, it was clear that Inge’s accomplishments after coming to the United States were even more remarkable.  As Clay had mentioned often and I didn't realize until later in the production phase, her influence on the hundreds of teachers that she worked with, as well as the thousands of students whose lives she had touched in her sixty-plus years of educational service, exemplified the spirit of someone who had overcome atrocities, but didn’t let it ruin her life forever.  The recognition that the community has given Inge is unique in that it truly is a thank you for a job well done for a woman who only wanted to do a good job.  I am so thankful that Clay decided he wanted to tell this story.

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