Every Face Has a Name

After the Second World War, 15,000 concentration camp refugees arrived in boats in the south of Sweden. On April 28, 1945, Swedish national television showed nearly 2,000 men, women and children arriving in the port of Malmö. Barely aware of their regained freedom, they obligingly went along with reception and processing, which included showering outdoors. Director Magnus Gertten used this impressive and very successfully restored footage for his documentary (2012), in which he looked for three of the war survivors in the footage. He has since managed to track down more of the faces that appear on-screen. Some of these survivors are interviewed in As they study the images, they’re surprised to recognize family members, friends and themselves. This sparks personal and shocking revelations about the war. Gertten compares this event to the current flow of refugees into Europe. He shows the viewer how, just like 70 years ago in Sweden, there’s a mixture of happiness, fear and disbelief in the faces of hundreds of refugees as they arrive in Sicily after their harsh boat journey. Meanwhile, Gertten manages to discover who some of them are as well.