Béatrice Thiriet

Tuschinski's Dream

After 50 years of exile, an old man comes back to the cinema of his childhood. The Tuschinski Theater of Amsterdam was born from a foolish dream; the one of Abraham Icek Tuschinski who has left his shtetl from Poland, and settles in Rotterdam where he opens a canteen to welcome Jewish immigrants. He then opens three little cinema halls that become a fast success and that’s how he decides to built a real cathedral like cinema hall. Real Art Deco palace inaugurated in October 1920, the Tuschinski encounters a meteoric success. During 20 years of a brilliant activity and despite the rise of intolerance in the Netherlands, Abraham Tuschinski believes in his dream. And, though weakened by financial difficulties, Tuschinski will never give up his dream. It will be the Nazis, invading the Netherlands, organizing the deporting of Jews and despoiling the properties, that will make Tuschinski’s dream turning into a nightmare.