THE DECENT ONE
by Vanessa Lapa
SYNOPSIS
Through previously undiscovered private letters, photos and diaries that were found in the Himmler family house in 1945, The Decent One exposes a unique and at times uncomfortable access to the life and mind of the merciless "Architect of the Final Solution" Heinrich Himmler. Himmler writes, “In life one must always be decent, courageous and kind-hearted”. How can a man be a hero in his own eyes and a mass murderer in the eyes of the world? A unique portrait of one the most prominent figures of the Third Reich: The Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler.
DETAILS
95 mins
2014
Israel, Austria
German
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TRAILER
CREDITS
Director & Producer: Vanessa Lapa
Co-Producer: Felix Breisach
Script: Vanessa Lapa, Ori Weisbrod
Editor: Sharon Brook, Noam Amit
Original Score: Jonathan Sheffer, Daniel Salomon, Gil Feldman
Research: Dorothea Otto, Sarah Strebelow, Oriana Almasi
BIOGRAPHY
DIRECTOR - VANESSA LAPA
Born and raised in Belgium, Vanessa Lapa has been living in Israel since 1995. An accomplished journalist, she produced and directed over a hundred factual reportages for Israeli television. Her documentary film “OLMERT – CONCEALED DOCUMENTARY” (Israel, 2009) was hailed as a unique cinéma vérite achievement, revealing the behind-the-scenes of the government and the private life of Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.Vanessa was also on the Israeli side of the production and content for the 52-minute documentary “Straddling the Fence” (USA, 2003) directed by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, which aired worldwide. In 2007, she founded the Tel Aviv-based independent documentary film production company Realworks Ltd.
SELECT FESTIVALS
BERLINALE 2014〡DOCUMENTA MADRID 2014〡DOK FEST MUNICH 2014〡PLANETE DOC FILM FESTIVAL 2014〡JERUSALEM FILM FESTIVAL 2014 - BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM〡TELLURIDE 2014〡BERGEN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2014〡REYKJAVIK INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2014〡VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2014〡FESTIVAL DO RIO 2014
PRESS
"Vanessa Lapa's documentary fashions a fascinating portrait of SS commander Heinrich Himmler from archival material... It may seem insensitive, if not callously cynical, to use the term “novelty value” when appraising a documentary dealing with the Holocaust. But that’s precisely what distinguishes Vanessa Lapa’s “The Decent One” from countless previous nonfiction features that have detailed the darkest horror of the 20th century. "
- Variety
"'The Decent One' reveals a psychological portrait of a man devoted to his family yet consumed by a soul-blackening and horrifically destructive cause."
- Los Angeles Times