Mint Pictures has won best documentary of the year at the Asian Academy Creative Awards for ‘Hitler’s Jewish Soldier?’.
It took out the Asian Award in Singapore last night over the finalists from China, India, Hong Kong, The Philippines, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan.
The awards are billed as “Asia-Pacific’s most prestigious awards for creative excellence” across 17 nations in the region.
It is the fourth award for the documentary, a history-mystery produced by Mint Pictures for SBS’s premium ‘Australia Uncovered’ strand of single documentaries.
The feature-length version – titled ‘The Jewish Nazi?’ – won the Gold Remi Award at Worldfest in Houston, Best Feature Documentary Award at Cannes World Film Festival as well as the Best Editing Award at Montreal Film Festival.
It has been selected for festivals in America, Europe, The Middle East, New Zealand and Canada.
It tells the staggering story of Melbourne’s Alex Kurzem, who as a Jewish boy claimed he witnessed his family being massacred in Byelorussia in 1941, escaped to the freezing forest but was captured by a Latvian battalion who – instead of killing him – made him their toy soldier, their ‘Mascot’.
What unfolds is a gripping true crime-esque investigation. It follows director Dan Goldberg as he delves into the mystery of the man dubbed ‘The Mascot’ and the decade-long search by Dr Barry Resnick, a Jewish academic who didn’t believe the story, and Dr Colleen Fitzpatrick, a renowned American forensic genealogist who cracked the DNA code to reveal his true family.
It was financed by SBS and Screen Australia in association with Screen NSW. Abacus Media is the international distributor.
The trailer is here
