STONES
FROM THE SOIL
Stones from the Soil showed in over
150 cities in 2005 and 2006, from New York
and Boston to Chicago, Texas and Los Angeles.
In August of 2005 it aired on WTTW—Channel
11 in Chicago, preceded by interviews of
Michael Caplan on WBEZ, the Chicago National
Public Radio station, and on WTTW's nightly
news show, Chicago Tonight. It has been
viewed by more than 500,000 people nationwide.
We couldn't be happier.
You can view several clips from Chicago
Tonight by clicking on the icons on this
page, and hear the entire interview on WBEZ
by going to the
WBEZ
audio library and clicking on “Audio”
next to the Stones from the Soil
description.
In October 2005, Michael Caplan appeared
at the Apple Store in Chicago in October
as part of the Inside the Edit Room
series. This is a live event series for
professional and aspiring filmmakers looking
to learn tips, tricks, and techniques on
today's popular creative applications from
working professionals. Caplan discussed
the extensive use of Final Cut Pro's technical
capabilities while editing Stones from the
Soil .
Stones from the Soil is currently available
for festival and private screenings. A curriculum
package for both adult and high school education
is also available. Please contact us at
montrosepictures@aol.com for
further information.
Synopsis
Stones From the Soil tells
the story of a unique school in 1930s Germany
where a small group of Jewish teenagers
were trained to become the vanguard of a
new society. One of those teenagers was
the filmmaker's father, Rudolph Caplan.
The school, situated on a farm, was called
Gross Breesen (pronounced bray' sen), and
it would eventually save the lives of Rudi
and 150 other students. Stones from the
Soil begins sixty-six years later, when
Rudi's son returned to find the farm.
During their four to five years at Gross
Breesen, the isolated teenagers were protected
by both the administrators and their families
from the growing anti-Semitism in the country.
There was no question they would have to
leave Germany at some point; nonetheless,
their lives were filled with tilling fields
and milking cows during the day, and listening
to classical quartets at night. Curt Bondy,
a renowned psychologist and professor, was
selected to run Gross Breesen, which was
both the name of the town and the name the
farm came to have.
Their seclusion was shattered in November
of 1938, the day after Kristallnacht (Crystal
Night), when an SS squadron came to Gross
Breesen to terrorize and destroy. After
vandalizing the buildings, the squadron
took Doctor Bondy and all boys over 18 to
Buchenwald Concentration Camp. However the
camps were not yet extermination factories,
and after a month the group was released,
signing a promissory note to leave Germany
as quickly as possible. Everyone at Gross
Breesen left Germany by August of 1939,
a month before Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia
and immigration was slowed down to a trickle.
The bond forged between the Gross Breeseners
(as they are called) is so strong, that
they have stayed in touch for sixty-five
years via letters that circle the globe.
The first Gross Breesen reunion took place
in Israel in the late 1980s, and since then,
reunions have been held on almost a yearly
basis.
The film blends traditional interviews with
inventive visuals, historical photos with
dream-like video, and social commentary
with personal discovery. Stones From the
Soil is a tribute to a father, a reflection
on memory, and a preservation of a formerly
untold story from the Nazi era.
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