WATERMARKS

Year: 2004
USA: Kino International
Cast: Judith Haspel, Trude Hirschler, Anni Lampl, Hanni Lux, Ann Marie Pisker, Nanne Selinge, Greta Stanton, Elisheva Susz
Director: Yaron Zilberman
Countries: France / Israel / USA
Language: English / German / Hebrew
USA: 80 mins
USA Release Date: 21 January 2005 (Limited Release - New York)

US Distributor

Synopsis

WATERMARKS is the story of the champion women swimmers of the legendary Jewish sports club, Hakoah Vienna. Hakoah ("The Strength" in Hebrew) was founded in 1909 in response to the notorious Aryan Paragraph, which forbade Austrian sports clubs from accepting Jewish athletes.

After the Anschluss, the political unification of Nazi Germany and Austria in 1938, the Nazis shut down the club, but the swimmers managed to flee the country before the war broke out, thanks to an escape operation organized by Hakoah's functionaries.

These Jewish swimming champs - the Hakoah Swimming team - who defied Hitler from Israel reunite seventy years after they were forced to leave.