German director showcases film on WWII resistance in Madison

Director Marc Rothemund comes to Madison on Tuesday, Nov. 15 for the screening of his new, award-winning film “Sophie Scholl – The Final Days,”Germany’s official entry for best foreign film in the 2005 Academy Awards.

The free 7 p.m. screening, at the Orpheum Theater, 216 State St., will be preceded by a 3 p.m. roundtable discussion at the Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St. The events are sponsored by the UW–Madison’s Center for German and European Studies, a member of the European Studies Alliance.

The film, which will be released in the U.S. next February, focuses on Sophie Scholl, the sole female member of a group of college students who formed an underground resistance movement called “the White Rose.”

Scholl is captured during a dangerous mission to distribute anti-war pamphlets on campus with her brother Hans. Armed with long-buried historical records of her incarceration, Rothemund expertly re-creates the last six days of her life. By focusing on her journey from arrest to interrogation, trial and sentence, Rothemund stresses her courage and offers a window into a little-known but gripping story of resistance.

Rothemund will participate in the Pyle Center roundtable, titled “Civil Courage: Resistance Remembered,” a discussion of the representation of the Holocaust and German resistance through film including UW–Madison professors Marc Silberman (German and Film Studies), Michael Bernard-Donals (English and Jewish Studies), Simone Schweber (Curriculum and Instruction), and Myra Marx Ferree (Sociology and Women’s Studies).

No tickets to the film screening are required; however seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis and seating is limited. The film is in German with English subtitles. Following the screening, the director will take questions from the audience.