Playing for Time (1980)

Directed by

Daniel Mann, Joseph Sargent

Genre

drama film, music-themed film

Country

United States

Runtime

2h 30m

Rating

6.9 of 10 from 57 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

Fania Fenelon is a Jewish musician sent to Auschwitz. She and other classical musicians are forced to perform for the camp guards to stay alive. The film follows her experience as a prisoner under this terrible bargain.

sombertenseemotionalhistoricalgrimsurvival-focusedintense

What happens

Playing for Time is a 1980 CBS television film, written by Arthur Miller and based on musician Fania Fénelon's autobiography The Musicians of Auschwitz. Vanessa Redgrave stars as Fénelon. Playing for Time was based on Fénelon's experience as a female prisoner in the Auschwitz concentration camp, where she and a group of classical musicians were spared in return for performing music for their captors. The film was later adapted as a play by Miller. This was the last film of director Daniel Mann. Parts of the film were directed by Joseph Sargent, but only Mann was credited as director. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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