State owned children
Directed by Anja Unger, co-written with Renaud Lavergne
Synopsis
Overnight, Margarete became Claudine. When she arrived in France, she was two years old. The day before, she was still living in a nursery in the French-occupied zone in Germany. Marie also grapples with the secrecy surrounding her origins. The two women were part of a little-known and little-glorified system: between 1946 and 1951, France brought around 1,500 children born to German mothers and French soldier fathers to its territory. The goal of these true "state adoptions" was to repopulate France, which had been demographically weakened by the war. Thus, the children became a national interest.
The investigation into the establishment of this specifically French system highlights the moving story of these children confronting the mysteries of their past.
Format: 16/9 - 1x52’ + 1x43' - Color - HD
Production: UN FILM À LA PATTE / FRANCE TÉLÉVISIONS / SWR / ARTE
Fundings: Centre National du Cinéma et de l'image animée, Région Grand Est, Procirep-Angoa
First broadcaster: Arte
Other broadcasters: France 3 Grand Est & SWR/ARD (Germany)
© 2021
TECHNICAL CREW:
Image: Grégory Rodriguez
Additional images: Émilie Aujé, Selina Becker, Solène Doerflinger, Jean-Marc Selva
Sound: Grégory Pernet
Additional sounds: Selina Becker, Matthieu Daude, Jean-Christophe Girard, Jérémie Vernerey
Editing: Stéphane Perriot
Artistic direction & animations: Jean-Clément Turblin
Original music: Pascal Doumange
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