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Short abstract

Stories We Didn’t Tell follows post-Soviet Jews, Germans and Russians living in Berlin as they contemplate secondhand memories of the Second World War. Through voices of multiple storytellers, the film results in a polyphonic, sometimes parallel secondary witnessing of the Second World War.

Long abstract

Stories We Didn’t Tell follows post-Soviet Jewish, German and Russian Greta, Elena, Luba, Nastia, Natalia and Yury living in Berlin as they contemplate secondhand memories of the Second World War. To address what may have been ostensibly “unspeakable” for their grandparents’ generation, Stories We Didn’t Tell turns to grandchildren’s accounts, who belong to/position themselves within different post-Soviet sub-groups. They recall memories that have been transmitted across generations. The film thus recontextualises – through their recollections – concepts of “perpetrator”, “victim”, “victory” and “loss” – through the voices of multiple storytellers, resulting in a polyphonic, sometimes parallel secondary witnessing of the Second World War.