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The Port of Last Resort streaming

Original title: Zuflucht in Shanghai
1998 Movie Austria Documentary 75 min
By: Joan Grossman, Paul Rosdy With: Otto Tausig, Barbara Sukowa, Illo Heppner, Fred Fields, Ernest Heppner

The film presents the little-known story of the 20,000 European Jews who fled to Shanghai between late 1937 and 1941. After 1939, Shanghai was the last and only resort to find safe haven from the Nazis, though not that safe either, as the film shows. This was due to Shanghai's status as a free port not requiring entry papers, and the relative tolerance of the Japanese occupiers, who, far from being saviors, resisted their Grand Ally's (Germany) demand to exterminate the Jews, and even prevented the actions of the Nazi "Butcher of Warsaw" who was assigned to liquidate the Shanghai Jews. After the Communist takeover of China, all traces of the Jews' existence, including a Jewish cemetery with 2,000 graves, were razed. The Jews passage through Shanghai is revealed, and preserved through four survivors (Fred Fields now of Miami, Ernest and Illo Heppner, and Siegmar Simon), and an incredible collage of rare film footage assembled by Joan Grossman and Paul Rosdy who wrote, edited, directed and produced the documentary.

Filmium rating
74%

Mood

Historical
Melancholic
Reflective

Cast & Crew

Paul Rosdy
Joan Grossman
Otto Tausig
Fred Fields
Ernest Heppner
Barbara Sukowa
Illo Heppner

Budget

Low-Budget

Cinematic Technique

Amateur Films
Found Footage
Private Letters

Narrative Structure

Documentary-Style
Nonlinear

Pace

Meditative
Slow-Paced

Runtime

Feature-Length

Soundtrack

Ambient Sounds
Interview Audio

Style

Archival Footage
Documentary
Interview-Based

Time-Period

1938-1941
Wwii Era

Central Conflict

Escape From Nazis
Survival During Wwii

Characters

European Émigrés
Jewish Refugees

Ending

Historical Reflection
Resilience

Historical Context

Jewish Diaspora
Nazi Persecution
Wwii

Key Plot Points

Fleeing Europe
Japanese Invasion
Life In Shanghai

Plot

Jewish Emigration
Shanghai Refuge
Wwii Survival

Setting

1938-1941
International City
Shanghai

Shooting Location

Shanghai
Switzerland

Theme

Displacement
Hope Amidst Adversity
Survival

Genre

Documentary

Audiences

Documentary Viewers
History Enthusiasts
Jewish History

Titles

The Port Of Last Resort

Production Countries

France
Switzerland

Release Year

1998
mowizz ID: 30ea0f68-7c63-4a76-974b-8d85a7292ec6
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