Movies

Lost film to get proper premiere 80 years after it was originally thought to have been destroyed by Nazis


Europa, made in 1931, has been restored after it was thought to be destroyed by the Nazis (Picture: Themerson Estate)
Provider: Themerson Estate
Copyright: Themerson Estate

A film thought to have been destroyed by the Nazis has been restored and will get an official premiere 80 years on.

Stefan and Franciszka Themersons’ 1931 film Europa, described by the BFI as an ‘anti-fascist masterpiece’, has been discovered after it was apparently seized in Paris during the Second World War.

Based on Polish poet Anatol Stern’s work on the same, the film ‘utilises an incredible array of avant-garde film techniques; photograms, collages and repetitions to translate words into a montage of images and ideas that articulate the horror, inequality and moral decline that the artists witnessed from Poland, with Europe at the edge of a precipice,’ say the BFI.

It was rediscovered in Berlin in 2019 and its restitution negotiated by the Commission for Looted Art in Europe on behalf of the Themerson Estate.

Europa has been restored in 2K and will finally have a world premiere at the upcoming 65th London Film Festival on October 6.

Taking place at BFI Southbank, it will be the first time the film has been viewed since the early 1930s.

The Themersons were Polish creatives who met in 1930 and had long partnership as filmmakers and writers.

The lost film will be given a proper outing at the upcoming London Film Festival (Picture: Getty)

When war broke out in 1938 they left a copy of their films, including Europa, at the Vitfer film laboratory to keep safe, however all five films were seized by the Nazis.

They died in 1988 believing Europa had not survived.

Next month the film festival is going to welcome special guests to discuss the work’s history, creation and its loss all those years ago. Two reconstructions of Europa made while it was ‘lost’ will also be shown.

The 65th BFI London Film Festival takes place from October 6 – to October 17.

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