Search Film, Company, People...

FARAWAY HOME

Family - Development 2017

Faraway Home' is a beautiful story of two young Jewish children sent by their parents away from Nazi occupied
Austria during World War two on the Kindertransport to London, where they finally end up at a Jewish
refugee farm in Northern Ireland.

- Year of production
- 2017
- Genres
- Family, Jewish, Historical
- Countries
- UNITED KINGDOM, IRELAND, AUSTRIA
- Languages
- GERMAN, ENGLISH
- Budget
- 3 - 5 M$
- Duration
- 100 mn
- Writer(s)
- Stephen GIBSON, Graham CANTWELL, Marilyn TAYLOR
- Producer(s)
- Stephen GIBSON (POWERSCOURT PICTURES)
- Synopsis
- STORY OVERVIEW
  Two Jewish children, Karl and Rosa, just twelve and eight, peer through the curtains, as they watch in
  horror as Hitler's troop’s parade down the streets of their home city Vienna. Green Army Lorries thunder
  past churning the sprinkling of late snow to dirty slush. Distant voices scream out in German, “Victory to
  the German Reich! Sieg Heil! … Jews out!” Blood-Red Flags with Black Swastikas ripple in the crowds as
  Hitler comes in to view.
  
  The two very confused children enquire of their father what this means for their family. Karl reminds his
  father that the Jews in Germany had been attacked, beaten and sent to prison camps. Uncle Rudi visits to
  keep the family together on such an awful occasion, and though he tries to make light of the situation, Karl
  and Rosa are terrified. Suddenly there is a thunderous knocking on the door, an SS Officer and a local
  Viennese police officer storm in and drag Papa and Uncle Rudi away.
  
  It has become very dangerous to be a Jew in Austria and after uncle Rudi is sent to the Dachau prison
  camp, Karl and Rosa's parents eventually get the children on the Kindertransport, an initiative to get the
  children out of the country to safety, away from Nazi danger. With just a small suitcase and a family photo,
  they board a train and wave goodbye to their family, Vienna and the war.
  
  Isolated and homesick, Karl and Rosa end up in Millisle, a run-down farm in Ards in Northern Ireland,
  which has become a Jewish refugee centre. Karl has to grow up fast and adapt in his new environment.
  He wonders if his family might follow. Will they make it safely through the war? An innocent youth is left
  making big decisions. He sends his young sister Rosa be fostered by a local family, so she does not have
  to live rough on the farm. He sends many letters home but there is little news of his family in Austria.
  Hard work on the farm keeps Karl occupied, and though he still waits desperately for any news from
  home, he becomes a vital part of the community at the refugee centre and makes friends with some
  Northern Ireland locals including Peewee and Wee Billy, and also with the Jewish girls from neutral Dublin
  who have come to help on the farm, especially Judy. Karl tries not to bond with her; his heart had already
  been broken by Lisl in Austria, who broke their long friendship and became part of the Hitler Youth.
  
  Though sometimes feeling sad and alone, Karl feels he and Rosa are at least safe in Northern Ireland.
  Surly Hitler would not bomb neutral Ireland? But there are stories of air-raids in London and the children
  find just too soon that Northern Ireland is in the war too, with rationing and air-raid warnings. Eventually in
  April 1941 the bombs of the Belfast Blitz bring the reality of war right back to the children’s doorstep again.
  Can this young Jewish boy Karl step up, protect his sister and adjust to this new life in Northern Ireland?
  
  Based on real events, “Faraway Home” is a story of family and unlikely friendships.