Rated 100% on Rotten Tomatoes
RottenTomatoes.com
"This film is more relevant than ever”
Catherine Lurie - Producer, Director
"Powerful, horrific and cautionary"
Matthew Bond – Daily Mail
“Builds to a devastating climax”
Kevin Maher - The Times
“This film is a call to arms"
Martin Carr – martincarr.co.uk
"Everyone would benefit from seeing"
TheUpcoming.co.uk
Watch the Trailer
Discover a true story that shatters indifference and shows what happens when a few good people act and when more good people turn and look away in the face of inhumanity.
"Back to Berlin" is available on Amazon Prime Video, Roku, Hoopla Digital, Pluto TV, and Tubi. You can also find it on BFI Player.
Back to Berlin captures the symbolic journey of 11 modern day bikers as they re-trace the missions of the original 1930’s Maccabiah riders in their quest to find athletes to participate in the first Maccabiah Games held in Tel Aviv in 1932.
As they cross 8 European countries they reveal and discover how they and their families survived or perished in the Holocaust. By taking the Israeli flag and the Maccabiah torch back to Berlin by way of Auschwitz, these riders come to understand the crucial role this moment played in their history. With resurgent populism and anti-Semitism making headlines, Back to Berlin brings these issues into sharp focus with a potent message. One shaped by survivors who lived through persecution and prejudice to populate the darkest pages in human history. Not just bringing a ‘Jewish’ story to the screen, but one with universal themes that celebrates a nation overcoming the worst of adversities to reclaim their humanity. Recreating a road trip that takes in Tel Aviv, crosses over to Greece, and moves up through Eastern Europe. Carrying the Maccabiah torch and flying an Israeli flag to challenge assumptions and overcome prejudice through understanding.
Poem by Eli Wiesl
Read by Larry King
Featured Scenes
Powerful scenes captured throughout the journey
Photo by Ziv Koren
Meet the Visionary Director
Catherine Lurie is a journalist and filmmaker who began her career as one of the youngest investigative reporters for the Sunday Times in South Africa before moving into international broadcasting as a European Correspondent for JBS and a member of the UK Foreign Press Association.
After training with the BBC and producing a series of acclaimed short films on notable athletes, she founded London-based Luria Media to create inspiring, visually driven stories that reveal powerful human truths. Her passion for confronting injustice and preserving memory led her to conceive Back to Berlin while covering the 2013 Maccabiah Games, inspired by the historic return of Jewish athletes to the site of Hitler’s 1936 Olympic stadium.
Back to Berlin is equal parts road trip biker flick and Holocaust homage, peeling back layers of personal recollection to reveal the true impact on Jewish identity, that was forever changed by the 1936 Olympic Games.
By taking the Maccabiah torch Back to Berlin by way of Auschwitz, these riders would also come to understand the crucial role this moment played in their history.
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