Estonian premiere

My Neighbor Adolf

Local title
Minu naaber Adolf
Director
Leon Prudovsky
Country
Israel, Poland, Colombia
Year
2022
Programme
In Focus: Israel, Opening film
Genre
comedy
Subject
elderly people, interpersonal relationships, history, historical personas

Treating serious and painful topics with humour is an extremely complex task. Not every comedian has the ability and the courage to expose long-time trauma using speculative satire. Israeli director Leon Prudovsky embraces controversy and brings holocaust suffering into an eternal sarcastic conflict between two antagonistic neighbours. This politically incorrect and suspensefully bittersweet humanist comedy about an almost impossible friendship with the most evil enemy is brought to life by fascinating, ironic and grumpy performances by two wonderfully sparring gentlemen – David Hayman and Udo Kier.

Gripping historical facts are charmingly reimagined in this startling “what if” fantasy which presents an alternative truth: Adolf Hitler didn’t shoot himself, but ran away to hide in South America with Adolf Eichmann, Josef Mengele and other Nazi war criminals. The disgraced dictator hides under the name of Herzog and finds a new home in an abandoned farmstead house somewhere in the highlands of Colombia with his German Shepard. However, the meticulously secretive beardy imposter miscalculates the one-in-a-million chance that a holocaust survivor lives in the only nearby house.

On the other side of the fence, the petulant, stubborn and scarred loner Marek Polsky unconditionally hates and blames all the Germans. The peculiarly blue eyes of his strange new neighbour and the constant malicious conversations in German in the neighbour’s garden only strengthen his suspicions. The obsessed Polsky is certain – it is the same evil Hitler whom he met at the then still peacetime chess tournament of 1934.

The local authorities and Mossad secret agents do not believe his categoricallly relentless theory that Hitler’s suicide in the bunker in 1945 was just deep fake news and the real Hitler survived to live in disguise for 15 years. Polsky has no other choice but to start investigating the habits and behaviour of his unusual suspect. The self-taught detective goes on an unimaginable mission to befriend Herzog aka Hitler with the intention of uncovering more hints and clues.

Edvinas Pukšta

Director
Leon Prudovsky
Screenwriter
Leon Prudovsky, Dmitry Malinsky
Cast
David Hayman, Udo Kier, Olivia Silhavy, Kineret Peled, Jaime Correa
Producer
Haim Mecklberg, Estee Yacov Mecklberg, Stanislaw Dziedzic, Klaudia Smieja
DoP
Radek Ladczuk
Editor
Hervé Schneid
Composer
Łukasz Targosz
Production
Team Productions, Film Produkcj, Vandalo, United King Films
World sales
Beta Cinema
Runtime
Language
German, Hebrew, Spanish, English, Yiddish
Subtitles
Estonian, English
Director
Leon Prudovsky

Filmograafia Hamesh Shaot me'Pariz (Five Hours from Paris, 2009), My Neighbor Adolf (2022)

Screenings

Hall Alexela Concert Hall
Screening26. Pimedate Ööde filmifestivali avatseremoonia ja avafilm 262626 / Minu naaber Adolf
SubtitlesEnglish, Estonian
Screening duration
Hall Athena Center, Tartu
Screening022101 / Minu naaber Adolf
SubtitlesEnglish, Estonian
Screening duration
2nd Hall Apollo Kino Coca-Cola Plaza
Screening060201 / Minu naaber Adolf
SubtitlesEnglish, Estonian
Screening duration
2nd Hall Apollo Kino Solaris
Screening171105 / Minu naaber Adolf
SubtitlesEnglish, Estonian
Screening duration
Trailer
Q&A with the filmmaker