The Flat
Rated: Not Rated
Genre: Documentary
Street Date: March 12, 2013
Available On: DVD

The Film: While cleaning out his recently deceased grandmother’s flat in Tel Aviv filmmaker Arnon Goldfinger discovers that his Jewish grandparents, who were forced from Germany during Hitler’s reign, might have been good friends with Leopold von Mildenstein, a leading official in the Nazi propaganda ministry.

The Extras: Theatrical Trailer

Recommendation: When you go digging around in the past you never know what you will find. Often the stories of those we love aren’t exactly what we thought they were. In “The Flat” filmmaker Arnon Goldfinger is forced to reassess who his grandparents were. He searches for an unattainable answer that would somehow help him to understand his grandparents’ relationship with a leading Nazi official, but also how could a leading Nazi official have a close friendship with those he actively demonized. It is an unsettling exploration for not only Goldfinger, but also for the relatives of Leopold von Mildenstein, who are now forced to examine the history of their ancestor as well.

“The Flat” is a fascinating film because it isn’t just a great and unsolvable mystery; it’s also an examination of the wonderful and strange bond of ancestry. In a sense the choices of our grandparents made say little to nothing about who we are as an individual, but they do have a strange impact on how we picture ourselves and how the world views us.

-Ryan Michael Painter