Il giardino dei Finzi Contini

Introduced by Johannes Praetorius-Rein (in German)

In the late 1930s, the Jewish Finzi-Contini family are members of the aristocracy in the Italian city of Ferrara. The adult children, Alberto and Micòl, pass the time with their circle of friends playing tennis and partying, oblivious to the alarming political events unfolding around them. Among their group is Giorgio, who comes from a poorer Jewish family and has fallen unrequitedly in love with Micòl. At the same time, the family becomes increasingly caught up in the mechanisms of the fascist politics which are threatening their lives. The film adaptation of Giorgio Bassani’s 1962 novel won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale in 1971 and the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1972. CCC, the long-standing production company founded by Artur Brauner, is celebrating its 80th anniversary in 2026; the company has archived a large collection of its films with the Deutsche Kinemathek.

Johannes Praetorius-Rhein is a film historian and curator based in Frankfurt am Main. He is currently preparing his doctoral dissertation on the film producer Artur Brauner and his early films about the Holocaust for publication.