Rupert Labrum Mark Hopkins

Home , Danny Strong, Eve Best, Jodhi May, Juliet Stevenson, Lucy Boynton

An In Trust Films Production

From award-winning director Polly Steele

Based on the true life story of Helga Schneider

©LET ME GO 2016

A film about mothers and daughters

Starring Juliet Stevenson, Jodhi May, Lucy Boynton, Karin Bertling

LET ME GO – PRODUCTION NOTES

An In Trust Films Production

A film by award-winning director Polly Steele

PRODUCTION INFORMATION: Production Company: In Trust Films Year: 2016 Country: UK Language: English Duration: 110 mins Colour Aspect Ratio: 2.35 (SCOPE) Exhibition Format: DCP Audio: Stereo LoRo Shooting gauge: 2K Filming locations: Surrey, London, Vienna Let Me Go © 2016. All Rights Reserved

#LetMeGo #WomeninFilm

http://www.letmegomovie.com/

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you” Maya Angelou

LET ME GO – PRODUCTION NOTES

Cast

Helga Juliet Stevenson

Beth Jodhi May

Emily Lucy Boynton

Traudi Karin Bertling

Serges Stanley Weber

Dani Elizabeth Webster

Eva Éva Magyar

Fraulein Adler Simona Hughes

Chris Abhin Galeya

Crew

Writer/Director/Producer Polly Steele

Producer Lizzie Pickering

Producer David Broder

Executive Producer George Tsitos Jonny Boston Rupert Labrum Mark Hopkins

Cinematography Michael Wood

Production Design Alexandra Walker

Editor Daniel Goddard

Costume Designer Holly Rebecca

LET ME GO – PRODUCTION NOTES Costume Supervisor Gemma Butterworth

Composer Philip Selway

Sound Recordist Dylan Voigt

Casting Director Vicky Wildman Buffy Hall

Crowd Casting Simona Hughes

Art Director Laura Phillips

Standby Art Director Isobel Dunhill

Set Decorator Clare Andrade

Production Buyer Tara Royston

First Assistant Director Stephen Carney

Second Assistant Director Zoe Smith

Unit Photographer Andrew Ogilvy

Unit Publicist Nick Pourgourides, Axiom Films

Make-up Designer Laura Schalker

Graphics Assistant Johanna Valeur

Production Manager Erin Duffy

Production Coordinator Lillie King

Assistant Production Katie Organ Coordinator

Location Manager Cat Ho

Assistant Location Tom Marshall Manager

Production Accountant Mark Hopkins

Assistant Accountant Silva Andzane

UK Location Catering Real Deel Caterers 4

LET ME GO – PRODUCTION NOTES

Legal Jonny Boston

Gaffer Ian Barwick

About the Film

Juliet Stevenson as Helga (left) and Karin Bertling as Traudi (right) © LET ME GO 2016

In her feature directorial debut, award-winning filmmaker Polly Steele has crafted a powerful and deeply moving drama based on the true story recounted in the best-selling memoirs by Helga Schneider, who was abandoned by her mother in 1941 when she was only four years old. The film is set in the year 2000, following not only Helga and her mother’s journeys but the next two generations and how they suffer from horrific events which took place over 70 years ago during the Second World War.

With a stellar female led cast including Juliet Stevenson, Jodhi May, Lucy Boynton and Karin Bertling, LET ME GO is a film about mothers and daughters, about trans-generational family relationships and ghosts from the past and the impact they leave on the present. “It’s not only my personal story. It’s an authentic, direct witnessing of the psychological, social and emotional tragedies suffered by all the children of war criminals.”

LET ME GO – PRODUCTION NOTES Helga Schneider

Synopsis

Jodhi May as Beth (left), Lucy Boynton as Emily (centre) and Juliet Stevenson as Helga (right) © LET ME GO 2016

Helga, now in her early 60s, has spent most of her life trying to escape her own – and her mother’s – past. As soon as she was old enough, Helga fled her native Germany for London where she has painstakingly built a life for herself. Everything is in its place: she has many acquaintances and no real friends. She’s had no contact with her mother since her childhood and has led Beth and Emily to believe that Traudi is dead.

Often emotionally unreachable and dismissive, Helga has not been a great parent to Beth, who grew up wary of her mother’s unpredictable moods, anxious to please, but also somewhat wild. At twenty, Beth made her way to India, immersing herself in yoga, meditation and promiscuity. In her early thirties she returned to London with her own daughter, Emily. She works as a hospital nurse, is estranged from Emily’s father and has a difficult relationship with Emily – a confident history student – who is, in turn, far closer to Helga.

LET ME GO – PRODUCTION NOTES When Helga receives a letter telling her that Traudi is close to death, it is Emily (now eighteen) with whom Helga shares the truth. And it is Emily who volunteers to accompany her to Vienna to meet the great-grandmother she thought was dead.

The unraveling of a family secret and the emotional impact on three mothers and three daughters makes this film at once a unique and universal experience.

Director’s Statement – Polly Steele

Director Polly Steele © LET ME GO 2016

The scars created from extreme trauma spread like a virus through the generations and leave wounds which perpetuate the initial pain far beyond its own lifespan.

The story of LET ME GO came to me, literally, in a book-shop one day. A small paperback exposed itself slightly crookedly off the shelf so that I would see it and that was that . I … flew to Italy to meet Helga Schneider whose life story it depicts. Why did I pick this book? Well I suppose it mirrored something in me and I am fascinated with trauma, how long it lasts, how it seems to be inherited through our DNA (now substantiated in several scientific studies) and how we can let it go. I was so intrigued by this topic that I went away from film-making for 5 years to be trained as a life coach, NLP therapist and specialist in helping young people to deal with traumatic childhoods. After seven years of writing and re-writing the script, working with various different 7

LET ME GO – PRODUCTION NOTES companies and even putting it aside for a while, somehow the stars have realigned, the right team came together, the energy changed and we made the film. BUT our film is a contemporary story following not only Helga and her mother’s journeys but the next two generations and how they are confronted with the long-term effects of choices made during the Second World War. We made these creative decisions with Helga’s blessing. The two youngest generations are fictitious characters based on information given to us by Helga who wanted to protect the real identity of her close family members. She understands now that her story has continued to affect those who came after her and that is what the film focuses on. Her family has been plagued by tragedy, suicides and deeply dysfunctional relationships. She explained to me that her writing and her books keep her alive. Helga believes that we need to learn from the past to avoid perpetuating our own wounds onto future generations.

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Abandoned by My Mother by Helga Schneider

Helga Schnedier today © LET ME GO 2016

When I was a child, I wanted to be a writer. My mother abandoned me and my brother in Berlin, during the war. My family never told me why she left.

Thirty years later, I went to find her myself and on that day I learned that she was a fanatic National Socialist that had eventually become a guard in the concentration camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau as a female member of the SS.

I wanted to be able to hate her. I wanted to forget my mother because I hated her, but you see, this is the great lesson that terrible encounter in Vienna taught me. It’s not possible to hate one’s own mother.

The experts, the psychologists, they tell us that the relationship with your mother is very important. A human being can become great, good, bad, criminal, and this is often linked to how his or her mother/child relationship started.

But my conflict (which is a historical one) has ruined my life. It ruined the relationship

LET ME GO – PRODUCTION NOTES with my mother who left me with a Nazi branding. It ruined the relationship with my son. I’m still suffering with the consequences…but with all these books, I’ve been able to create, between myself and the pain and shame for my mother, a wall, some distance…

I was given, in the cradle, a talent, and this saved my life, saved my mind. I was given the opportunity to share my story…this has been my therapy.

Q&A with Writer/Director, Polly Steele

Director Polly Steele (left), Abhin Galeya as Chris (centre) and Jodhi May as Beth (right) © LET ME GO 2016

What drew you to developing LET ME GO for the big screen?

I was drawn to this story, not really realizing that there was something in my own life that mirrored something in Helga’s story. So it inherently had a universal quality not just a personal one. You can then take that universal quality and transpose it into the aesthetic choices you make when writing and directing. In other words you find music, colours, patterns and performances that contain the bigger picture and that show themselves when put on the big screen.

Was the look of the film firmly fixed in your mind from the outset upon reading Helga’s memoir?

LET ME GO – PRODUCTION NOTES For me inspiration starts from the heart and the source of creativity starts from the emotional story and then that emotion takes a shape and a visual quality and it’s at that point that you start to see your characters in physical form. Then of course when you start writing it down on the page you are visually imagining how it looks, what it sounds like, where the camera will be and how an audience will receive those images.

Juliet Stevenson as Helga © LET ME GO 2016 Can you share your experiences of meeting and collaborating with Helga Schneider?

The initial meeting in 2007 was brief but very heartfelt. We spoke a strange mix of French, German and Italian but I think she could see from my passion and commitment that I understood her story and it was that which cemented our relationship over the next decade. We then wrote to each other a lot over the years but the 2nd most important meeting was in January 2015 when Lizzie Pickering and Georges Tsitos joined me to visit her again and it was that joint commitment that pushed this project into being.

All three of us meeting Helga and all three of us feeling the weight of her story was what galvanized us into raising the money needed for producing this film. Helga felt that commitment from us and in turn provided us with her blessing and trust.

LET ME GO – PRODUCTION NOTES Did you feel you had a strong responsibility to tell her story as honestly as possible?

Being a documentary maker for many years, the first draft of the screen play was a totally honest rendition of her life story but I quickly realized there were other aspects of this story which interested me, primarily the inheritance of trauma across the generations. Having asked Helga for more information about her extended family and her having expressed a desire not to involve them I then went on to draw on my own experiences and those of others I had worked with in my life coaching capacity to depict the story across four generations. The younger two generations were created but on reading the final screenplay, Helga felt that they were also very true to her story and gave her blessing to the final draft.

Juliet Stevenson as Helga (left) and Lucy Boynton as Emily (right) © LET ME GO 2016 Genetically linked trans-generational trauma is the primary theme of this story. How did you go about interweaving Helga’s story with the aftershocks felt by that of her daughter and granddaughter?

I had worked quite a lot in this arena having researched it thoroughly both for the film and as a coach. There are very well known patterns that emerge when a trauma is unresolved in a family system and therefore those patterns were easy to integrate into the characters. We know that it often takes between 5-7 generations before a knot in a family system begins to unfurl so it was imperative for me that the youngest member of the family represented that light and hope at the end of this trauma. It feels real to me that the younger generation alive today do not carry the same burden of the war as

LET ME GO – PRODUCTION NOTES those who went before them and it was this light and hope that were crucial for me to include in this story.

This film is very much a contemporary story but whose conflict arises from the past - how did you go about trying to interweave these two elements from a filming perspective?

The initial drafts of the script had many more flashbacks in them than the final film but what I quickly realized was that although the past lives very powerfully in our heads, perhaps what was more important for this film was to understand how that manifests in our contemporary world. I chose to leave in two very powerful moments from Helga’s past and use those as pivot points for the rest of her behavior in her contemporary setting. Juliet did an extraordinary job of using the factual information she had about Helga’s past to perform in her contemporary world, making us realize the weight of that past and the impact it had on those around her without actually having to show the historical detail on the screen.

Karin Bertling as Traudi (centre) © LET ME GO 2016 Q. Ultimately LET ME GO is a story of hope in the face of deep tragedy and ancestral burden – what would you like the audience to take away with them upon seeing the film?

I would never dare to presume what any individual person would take away from seeing and listening to a story as we all have our own filters and worlds that we exist in. But I know that Helga believes that we need to learn from the past to avoid perpetuating our own wounds onto future generations and that if we face our own truth, there is then

LET ME GO – PRODUCTION NOTES space for light and joy.

Leading Cast Biographies Juliet Stevenson CBE, (HELGA)

Juliet Stevenson is one of Britain’s leading actors. She has worked extensively for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre and the Royal Court, winning an Olivier award for her performance as Paulina in DEATH AND THE MAIDEN in 1991. Most recently she starred in Beckett’s HAPPY DAYS at The Young Vic to huge critical acclaim, which due to popular demand returned for a second run.

Her films include: TRULY, MADLY, DEEPLY, BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM, WHEN DID YOU LAST SEE YOUR FATHER?, BEING JULIA, PIERREPOINT, MONA LISA SMILE, DIANA and DEPARTURE.

Recent television work includes her starring role in Sky Living’s supernatural thriller THE ENFIELD HAUNTING and series regulars on two series of ATLANTIS and THE VILLAGE.

Other television work includes PLACE OF EXECUTION, THE ACCUSED, THE HOUR, WHITE HEAT, and recently starring in Williams brothers’ thriller ONE OF US on BBC1.

Upcoming theatre projects include MARY STUART and HAMLET, both at the Almeida theatre.

She was awarded the CBE in 1999.

Karin Bertling (TRAUDI)

Karin Bertling was born in Sweden in 1937 and is a highly

LET ME GO – PRODUCTION NOTES accomplished actress of international film, television and theatre.

Her film work includes: WALLANDER feature series (MANNEN SOM LOG as Fru Duner), INNAN FROSTEN (as Birgitta Medberg), as well as FACELESS KILLERS for the BBC, directed by Johan Falk.

Television credits include: THE ICE PRINCESS, the highly acclaimed series THE BRIDGE (series 2), REAL PEOPLE and BELLA BLOK (DAS SWARTZE ZIMMER).

For theatre: BERNARD ALBAS HOUSE (as Bernarda).

Karin was awarded Best Actress at Corti Da Sogni in Ravenna, Italy in 2015.

Jodhi May (BETH)

Jodhi May made her acting debut at the age of 12 in the Working Title film A WORLD APART, directed by two-time Academy award-winning Cinematographer Chris Menges. Jodhi received international critical acclaim when she won the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival for her performance and the film was also honored with the prestigious Jury Prize. Jodhi also won the Evening Standard award for Best Newcomer the same year.

Jodhi went on to star alongside Daniel Day Lewis in Michael Mann’s highly acclaimed THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS followed by

THE HOUSE OF MIRTH, based on the Edith Wharton novel, adapted and directed by the acclaimed British auteur Terence Davies, starring alongside Gillian Anderson, Dan Aykroyd and Laura Linney.

Other British feature films include: THE BEST MAN, directed by Stefan Schwartz, ON A CLEAR DAY starring Peter Mullan and Brenda Blethyn, NIGHTWATCHING alongside Martin Freeman and directed by Peter Greenaway CBE, FLASHBACKS OF A FOOL and DEFIANCE (both alongside Daniel Craig), I, ANNA starring Charlotte Rampling and Gabriel Byrne, and GINGER & ROSA with Christina Hendricks.

Jodhi’s leading roles in television include BBC2’s SIGNS AND WONDERS starring opposite James Earl Jones, Nick Dear’s adaptation of Henry James’ celebrated novel THE TURN OF THE SCREW which also starred Colin Firth, THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL, playing the lead role of Anne Boleyn, also starring Natasha McElhone, and Jared Harris, the award-winning WARRIORS directed by Peter Kosminsky, starring Ioan Gruffud and Matthew McFadden,

LET ME GO – PRODUCTION NOTES TIPPING THE VELVET directed by Geoffrey Sax, DANIEL DERONDA directed by Tom Hooper, Stephen Poliakoff’s FRIENDS AND CROCODILES opposite Damian Lewis, and THE AMAZING MRS PRITCHARD staring alongside Jane Horrocks and Janet McTeer.

More recent credits include the highly successful adaptation of EMMA for the BBC, STRIKE BACK , THE JURY, ICE CREAM GIRLS,COMMON from Jimmy McGovern for the BBC, A.D. and the ground-breaking GAMES OF THRONES for HBO, which has gone onto to become the most popular television series of all time.

Jodhi will next be seen in Terence Davies’ feature A QUIET PASSION, and DOWN A DARK HILL by Rodrigo Cortes for Lionsgate.

Lucy Boynton (EMILY)

Lucy Boynton began her acting career at the age of 12, playing the young Beatrix Potter in MISS POTTER alongside Renee Zellweger, Ewan McGregor and Emily Watson.

Over the next few years, Lucy played Margaret Dashwood in the three-part BBC production of SENSE & SENSIBILITY, adapted by BAFTA-winning writer Andrew Davies opposite Dominic Cooper and Dan Stevens, a leading role in BALLET SHOES alongside Victoria Wood and Emma Watson - and whilst continuing her studies also played Henrietta in Channel 4’s BAFTA nominated MO starring Julie Walters. Other TV projects include BORGIAS, LEWIS, ENDEAVOR and LAW AND ORDER.

In 2015 Lucy starred in LIFE IN SQUARES - the BBC Two three-part drama about the Bloomsbury Group. She played Angelica Bell, daughter of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant alongside Eve Best and Rupert Penry-Jones.

Lucy played the co-lead in John Carney’s SING STREET, produced by Anthony Bregman and the Weinstein Company, which premiered at Sundance this year to rave reviews, and she was named one of Variety’s “break-out stars” for her performance in the film.

Lucy will star in THE BLACK COAT’S DAUGHTER, alongside 16

LET ME GO – PRODUCTION NOTES Emma Roberts and Kiernan Shipka, directed by Osgood Perkins. The film received its world premiere at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival, was picked up by A24 for distribution and is due for release.

Lucy has recently completed shooting Danny Strong’s REBEL IN THE RYE alongside Nicholas Hoult and Kevin Spacey – Danny Strong directing from his own screenplay, an adaptation of Kenneth Slawenski’s biography, J.D. Salinger: A Life.

Lucy will next be seen in Osgood Perkins’ I AM THE PRETTY THING THAT LIVES IN THE HOUSE alongside Debbie Harry, Ruth Wilson and Bob Balaban.

It has recently been announced that Lucy has been cast in Kenneth Branagh’s MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS alongside Johnny Depp, Daisy Ridley, Michelle Pfieffer and Judi Dench.

Lucy will also be starring opposite Naomi Watts in Netflix’s upcoming drama series GYPSY.

Director/Writer/Producer – Polly Steele (In Trust Films)

Polly Steele is an award-winning UK-based, independent film-maker, renowned for her ability to tell the most sensitive stories.

Documentary work has included BAFTA nominated Tantrums & Tiaras, the inside story of Elton John’s life (ITV), Kofi Annan, The Eye of the Storm (BBC), Ewan McGregor, A Scot in the Arctic, and Grierson-nominated The World’s Youngest Surgeon. Most recently Polly shot and directed Rich, Russian and Living in London for BBC 2. She was a co-founder of Elton John’s Rocket Pictures with David Furnish, developing and producing films together for 5 years. In 2010 Polly was commissioned by George Films to write an original screenplay and, as a visual artist, May 2012 saw a major exhibition of Polly’s video portraits commissioned for the opening of London’s newest Mint hotel. Her subjects included Tony Benn, Jason Isaacs and star of The Wire, Michael K Williams.

Producer – Lizzie Pickering (In Trust Films)

Lizzie’s early career included time at Channel 4 working on the Channel 4 Daily (three and a half hours of live news from ITN studios) and the first year of the BIG BREAKFAST co-ordinating with Planet 24 for Commissioning Editor Lucinda Whiteley. She also produced many high budget corporate films for clients shot all over the world including multi camera shoots and 35mm film. Following the death of her eldest son Harry, Lizzie Pickering became a founding member

LET ME GO – PRODUCTION NOTES of the fundraising team at Helen & Douglas House, which had to raise £5 million a year for Hospice care for children and young adults. For 12 years Lizzie produced fundraising events and worked across the Major Donor and Corporate teams too. For ten years she co-produced a yearly comedy show, Childish Things, featuring among others Michael McIntyre, Miranda Hart, Hugh Laurie, Bill Bailey, Jimmy Carr, Rowan Atkinson, the cast of QI, Radiohead, Jamie Cullum, Rob Brydon and many more. She first met Philip Selway when Bill Nighy performed LOVE IS ALL AROUND on stage for Helen & Douglas House, backed by members of Radiohead.

Producer – David Broder

David Broder has worked as a Location Manager and Production Manager on large budget features for many years including THE KING’S SPEECH, THE IMITATION GAME and EASTERN PROMISES. Recent credits include Spielberg’s BFG as the Unit Production Manager and WOMAN IN GOLD starring Helen Mirren.

Executive Producer – George Tsotis (In Trust Films)

George Tsotis has a successful track record both in developing European companies into successful and healthy businesses. He also acts as an early stage investor for start-up projects and provides business development advice to Boards.

Executive Producer – Rupert Labrum

Rupert Labrum retired from investment banking after a successful 25 year career. He was involved in the Treasury and funding operations of international banks, fund managers and building societies. He also ran a proprietary trading desk in the sterling derivatives market at Deutsche bank. Rupert has spent the last 2 years as a seed investor for many small UK start-up companies.

Key Crew

Cinematography: Michael Wood Michael Wood’s most recent work includes 2nd unit on Ron Howard’s epic IN THE HEART OF THE SEA, RUSH and WOMAN IN GOLD.

Production Designer: Alexandra Walker Alexandra Walker’s credits include LOVE DOES GROW ON 18

LET ME GO – PRODUCTION NOTES TRESS, SNOW IN PARADISE, LOVE TOMORROW and Art Director on THE YOUNG VICTORIA, FRANKENWEENIE and three HARRY POTTER feature films.

Editor: Daniel Goddard Daniel Goddard’s work includes THE ARBOR, YES, BODY SONG, LOVE IS THE DEVIL, as well as music video credits with U2, Blur, Metallica and Depeche Mode

Costume Designer: Holly Rebecca Holly Rebecca has styled clients including Solange Knowles and Ellie Goulding and Costume Designed Jane Linfoot’s SEA VIEW (Nominated for Best Short Film at the 2014 BAFTAs) and THE INCIDENT (full length feature film).

Composer: Philip Selway World-renowned drummer, solo singer and songwriter Philip Selway from RADIOHEAD is Soundtrack Composer for LET ME GO. Philip has also jointly composed music for a Merce Cunningham Event for Rambert Dance Company.

In addition to recording and touring with Radiohead, he has released two solo albums and has worked with the Samaritans since 1991. Notes

LET ME GO – PRODUCTION NOTES