The past that lives

Philo Bregstein

Quinzaine 1971 | Feature film | 65'

This film documents the life of the late Jewish historian and author Prof. Jacques Presser. Presser took fifteen years to write his book « Ashes in the Wind: The Destruction of Dutch Jewry, » which created a storm of controversy because it exposed many members of the Dutch bourgeois who collaborated with the Nazis. Also directed by Philo Bregstein: In Search of Jewish Amsterdam.

Artistic & technical sheet

With
Prof. Jacques Presser

Screenplay
Philo Bregstein

Image
Anton Haakman

Prod : Philo Bregstein
Brouwersgracht 220
Amsterdam

Born in Netherlands, he is a writer and a filmmaker who has lived for years between Paris and Amsterdam. After a law degree, he graduated in screenwriting and filmmaking at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome. He is a writer of novels and essays. He is also a director of fiction and documentary films, plus a journalist, mainly for The Dutch weekly De Groene Amsterdammer. He directed the film Jean Rouch and his camera in the heart of Africa; he was co-writer of the film of Jean Rouch Madame l’Eau. He played in Jean Rouch’s films.