WHY CONTRIBUTE TO THIS FILM

This is a story about redemption. 

Born dirt poor in 1932 as a half-Jew in Vienna, Austria, he escaped the Nazi-occupied country in 1944 on the ‘Kindertransport’ to Switzerland – right into the hands of a convicted child sex offender.  Three months became 8 years;  and he overcame his adversities to eventually return to Vienna and become a successful classical musician and professor.  My father is alive, open to tell his story. 

The redemption is two-fold:  one is the tenacity of the human spirit to succeed against all odds.  The other is overcoming transgenerational trauma. 

He didn’t know his father much (who was in two concentration camps) – in fact he says he never really had a father – and fast forward 80 years, as separated parent, I myself am facing not being able to see my own daughter as much as I want to.  I fear I am unwittingly passing down the family karma, but i also see the transformative lessons available to all of us.

THE STORY

Robert Freund, pictured here around 1944 at the Zurich train station, experienced World War II on the streets of Vienna, witnessing atrocities like his own mother getting raped by a Russian soldier, barely surviving after getting shot by that soldier, and frequently dodging bombs during air raids.

He saw his father Oskar wear the Star of David; my parents still have the originals.  Unbelievably, my grandfather managed to survive two separate concentration camps.  When he got the chance to join the ‘Kindertransport’ to Switzerland, Robert was under the auspices of a certain Dr. Siegfried, an already convicted child sex offender and eugenicist. 

What was intended as three-month stay, turned into 8 years thanks in no small part to Dr. Siegfried’s support, which to me raises the issue of redemption.  A man known for a lot of ‘bad’ things literally enabled my father’s life and freedom  —  by among other things, encouraging his parents to get married which got my father his passport, without which he’d have had to return to Vienna after a few months.  Instead, my father returned to Vienna 8 years later to become the principal French horn with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, and a widely respected professor.

In February 2020, inspired by his autobiography, a family genealogy my parents spent years creating as well as a stipend from the Austrian Future Fund, I recorded my father at his home in Vienna, resulting in hours of fascinating interview material.  I am now turning his story into a feature documentary available to international audiences.
 

THE VISION (APPROACH)

We will shoot high quality (6K, 8K) interviews of my father on a sound-stage in Vienna.  My directorial vision is to use a neutral dark background – and not, for instance in his living room or walking the streets of Vienna –  to lend a degree of objectivity and universalizability to his accounts.  The viewer will be able to use their own imagination while engrossed in his accounts.  Additionally, the studio option is ideal in order to control lighting and atmosphere throughout several shooting days.

In the editing process, my father’s stories will ultimately be made into chapters and juxtaposed with archival footage from World War II, the Vienna Symphony, Switzerland and more.  This will serve as further emotive element. 

The film will be shot in German with English subtitles.
 

BRASS TAX: THE PRODUCTION BUDGET

The film’s budget is currently estimated at $120K.  Most independent feature documentaries range from $150K and $1M.  But we feel that with a resourceful approach to our production, we will be able to deliver a high quality film for our estimated budget.

The project has received partial financial support from the Austrian ‘Zukunftsfond’ (Future Fund), which enabled me to visit my father in Austria and shoot the footage featured in the teaser.  

–  5 shooting days @$7500 (including studio rental, lighting, 2 RED cameras, director of photography, professional camera and production assistants, insurance, etc)
$37,500

–  editing (6-9 months)
$29,000

–  post production, DI, color correction, sound
$12,000

–  archival footage, acquisition of rights, production music
$14,000

– travel, accommodations and related expenses
$7,500

– hard drives, maintenance, computer upgrades & supplies
$6,000

– miscellaneous costs, contingencies
$5,000

– producer contingency
$5,000

–  festival submissions, film screenings, cinema rental (premiere)
$4,000

If you are not in a position to contribute, I would love to invite you to use the Indiegogo share tools, should this project inspire you.  Thank you!
 

MEET THE TEAM

Michael Freund,  Director.

Michael Freund is a filmmaker, photographer and pianist from Vienna, Austria.  He moved to the U.S. in 1988 and has a background in fashion and portraiture photography, commercial directing, feature documentary editing and classical music.  A graduate from the prestigious Art Center College of Design, he is an award winning commercial director, photographer, film editor as well as composer. 

Michael has backed 10 successful projects on Kickstarter.  This is his first fundraising campaign. 

Roman Wyden, Producer.

Roman grew up in Brig, Switzerland and holds a BFA in Directing from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA.

As award-winning writer/producer/director, Roman has been creatively involved in such projects as the Eleanor Roosevelt award-winning documentary the short festival darling ‘Max’, Ricky Limon’ and ‘Hiroko’ as well as most recently the short films ‘Ronnie & Inga’, the Palm Springs International Short Film Festival winner ‘Deface’ and the feature film ‘Quail Lake.’

For the last 10 years Roman ran Culver City-based roster.LA , a commercial production company focused on delivering narrative content to multinational clients such as Chrysler, Proctor & Gamble, Kimberly Clark, and the VA.  While with roster.LA, he directed commercials, PSAs and online content and oversaw and produced close to 100 creative projects for his clients.

Lucas Vossoughi, Producer.

Lucas Vossoughi studied communication, media sciences, anthropology and film in Vienna, Berlin and Zurich.  Prior to his career in film, he worked as a media artist.  He produced and directed 6 award winning narrative short-films, screening at over 70 international film festivals.  After working on a documentary about legendary producer Menahem Golan, Lucas is now in development on two feature-length motion pictures, in addition to our project: an English-speaking time-travel-thriller and a German mystery-drama.