The fate of Paris hangs in the balance as two men try to reach an accord in Director Volker Schlöndorff’s Diplomatie.
In this film from France and Germany, Schlöndorff takes us back to August of 1944 as WWII winds down in Europe. When the Germans retreat from the advancing Allied forces, General Von Choltitz, the German military governor of occupied Paris, is preparing to follow Hitler’s orders to leave the city in rubble and destroy landmarks such as the Eiffel tower and Notre Dame, while Swedish Consul-General Raoul Nordling attempts to use all his diplomatic skills to convince him not to do so. Diplomatie was nominated for Best Feature at the 2014 Schwerin Art of Film Festival, and adapted from the successful Cyril Gely play.
Following the Global Cinema screening in the DGA Theater in New York on September 11, Schlöndorff discussed the making of Diplomatie as well as his long career beginning as as a French Assistant Director for such luminaries as Louis Malle and Alain Resnais. The conversation was moderated by Director Debbie Elbin (Apologies to Bunuel).
Schlöndorff’s other works include the feature films Young Torless, A Free Woman, Palmetto, The Handmaid's Tale, Calm at Sea and The Tin Drum, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film and Palme d’Or at the Canne Film Festival in 1979; as well as the documentaries Billy Wilder Speaks and War and Peace.