Nelly & Nadine - an extraordinary documentary film

 


Nadine and Nelly


I had the privilege of seeing this wonderful documentary during the Melbourne Queer Film Festival (18-21 Nov 2022). There was only one showing and I am SO glad I went. The above two women were from very different backgrounds but their work for the French Resistance during WW2 brought them together in the worst of all places, the living hell of Ravensbrück concentration camp. They fall in love, but are separated. The spirit of their love helps them to endure unspeakable horrors, yet they do not know if the other has survived … until much later. It's a story of courage, resilience, survival and a wonderful love. And for once, this is a story of two lesbians finding, then losing, then finding each other again - and having a truly happy ever after (as far as they could, given their horrific experiences). Post war, Nadine was an amateur photographer in possession of a movie camera - she documented their happy life. Both women are fascinating in their own right - as a couple they are an inspiration. The depth of research for this film is mind boggling, and we are taken on that journey - but the real treasure lies within a trunk in an attic. Oh what good fortune that the trunk somehow survived to tell this true tale! There is even a connection with Dolly Wilde (featured in this blog) because Nadine was a close friend/lover of Natalie Barney in Paris before the war - and the Sapphic interconnections run deep. There is so much to this film. See it if you ever get the chance. 

Here are more details taken from https://www.frameline.org/films/frameline46/nelly-nadine :

DIRECTED BY MAGNUS GERTTEN  

2022SWEDEN/BELGIUM/NORWAY    92 MINS

Ravensbrück concentration camp, Christmas Eve 1944: A female inmate is ordered to sing Christmas carols, when a voice calls out “Sing something from Madame Butterfly!” Hauntingly, the singer chooses “Un bel di”—the ultimate expression of longing and hope. So begins the long-hidden, extraordinary love story of two prisoners from the Resistance: professional mezzo soprano Nelly Mousset-Vos and Nadine Hwang, the opera-loving requester. From the bowels of hell itself, their relationship blossoms and transforms into a deepening love that sustains them through liberation of the camps, post-war separation, and finally to Caracas, Venezuela, where, far from the world they left behind, they begin to build a life together.

Now Nelly’s granddaughter Sylvie, keeper of the family archives and its secrets, delves into the past and uncovers a trove of writing, films, and photos that her family has ignored for decades. What she finds is a moving testimony to a relationship that transcended the Holocaust itself. Winner of the Teddy Jury Award at the 2022 Berlin International Film Festival, this moving documentary is a fascinating portrait of enduring love.

LANGUAGE - In English, French, Swedish, and Spanish with English subtitles

PROGRAM NOTE WRITER - Victoria Jaschob

photos & blurb from - https://www.frameline.org/films/frameline46/nelly-nadine 



https://www.amazon.com.au/Secretive-Life-Sara-Hardy-ebook/dp/B09DKLSH93


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