Synopsis

This film is a story about a world-renowned conductor’s journey into music as well as one man’s story about his two families on each side of the Berlin Wall. Born in 1922 in Innsbruck, Otmar Suitner, ruled for 30 years as East Germany’s leading conductor since 1960 but was forced to retire at the peak of his career from Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 68. This has his son and the director of this film, Igor Heitzmann realize there is not much time left and embark on a quest to rediscover his father’s life path filled with music and love through rare footage and letters. The son’s wish to see his father conduct an orchestra once again is fulfilled when Suitner plays Mozart’s Symphony for him. The music of Brahms, Johann Strauss, Beethoven, and Schubert are truly magnificent, but the images of the father and son journeying to Suitner’s hometown, Innsbruck, is a moving scene which reminds us of the true meaning of ‘family.’ (Chun Jin-su)

Director

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  • Igor Heitzmann
  • Born in 1971 in Rentersbruck and currently residing in Berlin, Heitzmann worked as the assistant director for Basil Shilovik's *Orson Welles - One Man Band*. He has also worked as a script editor, translator, and production designer, among other roles. He is the son of the conductor Otmar Suitner, who is the subject of this documentary. In 2002, when his father turned 80, Heitzmann realized the need for a special project to understand and say farewell to his father, which led him to create this film.