HARLAN – IN THE SHADOW OF JEW SÜSS: Q & A with filmmaker FELIX MOELLER and film subject Veit Harlan's granddaughter JESSICA JACOBY (Recorded March 3, 2010)

Summary: HARLAN – IN THE SHADOW OF JEW SÜSS: The infamous JEW SÜSS (1940), directed by Veit Harlan, and produced under Joseph Goebbels’s Ministry of Propaganda, was the Nazis’ most vicious anti-Semitic film. A drama set in 18th century Germany, it purports to tell the true story of a Jew who dresses incognito (as a Christian), corrupts a local Duke, restructures the government to bleed the people through punitive taxes, and forces himself upon a beautiful, married Christian woman (played by Kristina Söderbaum, Harlan’s third wife). At the war’s end, the filmmaker was prosecuted for crimes against humanity, but acquitted. Today, his children and grandchildren consider his legacy and the hard questions it continues to pose. Some have changed their name and left Germany. Others claim he was forced to direct the film and deride it as loathsome, crudely-made propaganda. HARLAN is a fascinating exploration into the murky waters of a family’s unique, disturbing relationship to one of history’s worst crimes. This podcast is a recording of the Q & A with filmmaker FELIX MOELLER and film subject Veit Harlan's granddaughter JESSICA JACOBY, recorded March 3, 2010 at Film Forum at a screening of the film.