TAKING SIDES "...one of the most spectacular film productions of 2000/1"

TAKING SIDES is a gripping political drama investigating the responsibility of the individual within a dictatorship.

Directored by Academy Award winner István Szabó the film is based on a screenplay by Ronald Harwood, adapted from his theatre play of the same name. Starring Harvey Keitel, Stellan Skarsgård, Moritz Bleibtreu and Birgit Minichmayr.

The true story of Wilhelm Furtwängler, arguably the most distinguished conductor of his generation, who is forced to face the American Denazification Committee. Although he is acquitted of all charges, his name remains tainted by his association with the Nazis.

After Hitler took over power in 1933, many Jewish artists were forced to leave Germany. Others went voluntarily into exile in protest. Furtwängler chose to stay. While helping to secure safe haven for many Jewish musicians, he at the same time served as one of the Nazi's foremost cultural assets.

The question of the artist's political responsibility within a totalitarian regime remains open to this day - whether to stay and serve one's own people or to leave the homeland.