My Opposition: The Diaries of Friedrich Kellner
My Opposition: the Diaries of Friedrich Kellner is a 2007 documentary movie by Abella Entertainment Ltd. of Toronto, Canada. It is produced and directed by Fern Levitt and Arnie Zipursky. Leonard Asper is an executive producer. The movie is distributed by CCI Entertainment.
| My Opposition - The Diaries of Friedrich Kellner | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Fern Levitt |
| Produced by | Arnie Zipursky |
| Starring | Robert Scott Kellner Max Eisen Doloris Funt Jesse Dubinsky |
| Narrated by | Nicky Guadagni |
| Music by | Alex Khaskin |
| Cinematography | Bill Metcalfe |
| Edited by | Nick Hector |
| Distributed by | CCI Entertainment - Toronto |
Release date | June 16, 2007 |
Running time | 65 min |
| Country |  Canada |
| Language | English German |
Subject matter
The documentary tells the story of Chief Justice Inspector Friedrich Kellner (
pronounce) who wrote a secret diary during World War II. The diary records the crimes of the Nazis. The movie uses interviews, historical footage, and re-enactments of events to tell how Friedrich Kellner risked his life to write the diary. The story is also about Kellner’s American grandson, Robert Scott Kellner, who was abandoned as a child but later found his grandfather in Germany. Part of the movie is about the grandson’s attempt to bring the Friedrich Kellner diary to the attention of the public.
The movie begins with Friedrich Kellner as a political activist for the Social Democratic Party of Germany before the war. He campaigns against Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. The re-enactments show Kellner trying to stop the riots against the Jews during Kristallnacht. Kellner is brought before a tribunal, and he is threatened with imprisonment in a concentration camp. The movie shows Kellner’s active and passive resistance against the Third Reich. One scene shows him distributing leaflets that had been dropped from American planes. When World War II comes to an end, Kellner helps to restore the SPD. He becomes the chairman of the party in his region. Interwoven in the story about Friedrich Kellner is the story of his grandson.
The documentary was filmed on location in Mainz and in Laubach, Germany, and in Texas.
Background information
- The Kellner diary was on exhibit at the George Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas.
- It was also exhibited in Germany.
- The University of Giessen is the home of the Kellner Project.
Other websites
- My Opposition: the Diaries of Friedrich Kellner Archived 2007-03-11 at the Wayback Machine at Telefilm Canada movie catalog.
- Diary Entries in German and English
- George Bush Presidential Library - Kellner exhibit
- Justus Liebig University - Kellner Project
- University of Massachusetts, A Promise To Keep Archived 2007-03-06 at the Wayback Machine
- Holocaust Museum Houston - Kellner exhibit Archived 2006-10-05 at the Wayback Machine
- Heimat Museum, Laubach, Germany - Kellner exhibit Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
- My Opposition: The Diaries of Friedrich Kellner on IMDb