ACFNY SUPPORTED | FILM SCREENING | HOMEBOUND THROUGH THE WORLD: THE LIFETIME JOURNEY OF FREDERIC MORTON

(Austria, 2009, DVD, 58min., German with English subtitles)

U.S. Premiere

“The real me is most likely Fritz Mandelbaum.” This is probably one of the most memorable quotes by author Frederic Morton in this documentary. Frederic Morton came to the United States like so many other émigrés in February 1940 – back when he was known as Fritz Mandelbaum. According to Morton, he carries two strangers inside of him. Down to the present day he has not forgotten where his long journey began.

Austrian actress and director Andrea Eckert accompanied Viennese-born Frederic Morton to Thelemanngasse in Vienna’s 17th district, where his father owned an ironware shop until the “Anschluss”. Morton proves to be a great storyteller. Homebound Through the World is, as the title already suggests, a film about homecoming. Eckert’s main focus is the private person, who, in Morton’s own words, lives in two exiles: an exile in terms geography and an exile in terms of time. The true self of the American Frederic Morton still lives in the Vienna of the 1930s.

Frederic Morton is an American writer who was born in Vienna in 1924. In 1939 he fled from the Nazis and emigrated to the United States. Today he lives and works in New York. Morton’s most popular books include The Forever Street, Thunder at Twilight: Vienna 1913/1914, and Runway Waltz. His biography of the Rothschilds topped the New York Times bestseller list for 32 weeks.

The screening will be followed by a discussion with Frederic Morton and director Andrea Eckert.

Tickets are $10; $7 students/seniors, $5 for Museum members and ACFNY subscribers.

VENUE
Museum of Jewish Heritage
Edmond J.Safra Plaza
36 Battery Place
Battery Park City, New York

To reserve tickets, please visit http://www.mjhnyc.org/safrahall/visit_safra_30.htm#morton
or call 1.646.437.4202