Nelly & Nadine
Nelly & Nadine is the unlikely love story between two women falling in love on Christmas Eve, 1944, in the Ravensbrück concentration camp. For many years their relationship was kept a secret.
During World War 2, in the middle of the horrors of the war camps, Nelly & Nadine begin their life-long journey. On Christmas Eve the Belgian prisoner and opera singer Nelly Mousset-Vos had been asked to sing Christmas carols in one of the French populated Ravensbrück barracks. After a couple of songs, a voice calls out from the dark: ”Sing something from Madame Butterfly!”.
Nelly hesitates, but then she sings ”Un bel di vedremo”, an aria about the waiting for a loved one. Afterwards the woman who requested the song from Madame Butterfly emerges from the darkness. She kisses Nelly and says: ”The Good Lord has been kind to us”. Her name is Nadine Hwang and in this moment Nelly and Nadine become a couple, spending as much time together as possible.
But after two moths they are separated when Nelly is transferred to a different camp. After being liberated towards the end of the war, they manage to reunite and decide to start building a life together. For many years Nelly and Nadine’s lifelong relationship was kept a secret, even to some of their closest family.
Now Nelly’s grandchild, Sylvie, has decided to open Nelly and Nadine’s unseen personal archives and uncover their remarkable story. Among the photos, love letters and film reels in the archive, there is also a diary written by Nelly. In these previously unpublished personal notes, she tells her life story including details about being in love in the middle of the camp horrors, the complicated reunification with Nadine after the war, deciding to move to Venezuela so they could live freely and coming back to Europe in the early 70’s to spend their last years in Brussels.
Nelly & Nadine is a remarkable story about war sufferings, mysteries, love against all odds, the healing power of music, well kept secrets, and the complicated family stories of concentration camp survivors, still trying to deal with the ghosts of the past.
Follow Nelly & Nadine on Facebook.
CINEMA RELEASES:
SWEDEN: Premiere on March 18, 2022. Details available via Doc Lounge.
BELGIUM: Premiere on October 5, 2022. Details available via Dalton Distribution.
GERMANY: Premiere on November 24, 2022. Details available via Rise and Shine Cinema.
AUSTRIA: Premiere on December 09, 2022. Details available via Polyfilm.
DENMARK: Premiere on November3, 2022. Details available via Filmbazar.
ISRAEL: Details available soon via Tel Aviv Cinematheque.
USA & CANADA: Cinema screenings starts December 16, 2022 at Cinema Village in New York and at VIFF Centre in Vancouver. Details available via Wolfe Video.
UK: Cinema screenings at Bertha Doc House from Friday, February 10, 2023. Tickets at Bertha Doc House.
Nelly & Nadine will also screen at Sheffield Show Room on February 27, 2023. Tickets at the Sheffield Show Room here.
SWITZERLAND: Screenings for one month starting on February 27, 2023 at Stadtkino Basel. Find tickets here.
FRANCE: Premiere on December 6, 2023. Details available via L'Atelier Distribution.
AWARDS
Teddy Jury Award, Berlinale, Germany, February, 2022
Audience Award for Best Documentary, Pink Apple Film Festival, Zürich & Frauenfeld, Switzerland, April, 2022
Torino Pride Award, Real Lovers Film Festival, Italy, May, 2022
The Mariposa Award for Best Film in the 26th Festival Mix Mexico, Mexico, July, 2022
Being Oneself Award, Doc Edge, New Zeeland, July, 2022
The Grand Jury Prize, Festival du Film de Cabourg, France, June, 2022
The Youth Audience Award, Festival du Film de Cabourg, France, June, 2022
Grand Prix in The Global Competition, EIDF, Korea, August, 2022
Jury Award Winner for Best Documentary, Out On Film Atlanta, USA, October, 2022
Best Nordic Documentary Award, Nordisk Panorama, Sweden, September, 2022
Honorable Mention, Documentary Section, Oslo Fusion, Norway, October, 2022
Audience Award, Documentary Section, Oslo Fusion, Norway, October, 2022
Audience Award Winner for Best Documentary, Out At The Movies Intl LGBTQ Film Festival, USA, October 2, 2022
Jury Award Winner for Best Documentary, ImageOut Rochester LGBT Film Festival, USA, October, 2022.
QFFM Audience Award, Queer Film Festival München, Germany, October, 2022.
Honorable Mention for Best Documentary, OUTshine Ft. Lauderdale, USA, October, 2022
Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature, Seattle Queer Film Festival, USA, October, 2022
Antenna Audience Award, Antenna Documentary Film Festival, Australia, October, 2022
Special Mention, Documentary Competition, Nordische Filmtage, Germany, November, 2022.
Best Documentary Film, TLVfest, Israel, November, 2022
Best Film - City of Reus Award, Memorimage - Cinema de Reus, Spain, November, 2022.
Audience Award Best Film, Ljubljana LGBT Film Festival, Slovenia, December, 2022.
Audience Award, Sofia Pride Film Fest, Bulgaria - June 04-15, 2023
Jury Special Mention, Cinehomo Festival, Spain - April 2024
People's Choice Award, the audience award of the Chania Film Festival, November 2024
Documentary Film Selection, European Film Awards, 2022
Best Feature Documentary Shortlist, IDA Documentary Awards, October, 2022
Nominated, Best Documentary, Guldbaggen - the yearly Swedish film award, December, 2022
Nominated, The Grierson Awards - Best History Documentary, Fall 2023
FESTIVAL SELECTIONS
Panorama, Berlinale, Germany - February, 2022. WINNER: Teddy Jury Award. Nominated: The Berlinale Documentary Award.
International Competition, FIFDH, Switzerland – March 4-13, 2022
Tempo Documentary Award, Tempo, Sweden – March 7-13, 2022
Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, Greece – March 10-20, 2022
Highlights, CPH:DOX, Denmark – March 23 – April 2, 2022
International Competition, Docville, Belgium – March 23-31, 2022
Grand Jury Documentary Competition, Movies that Matter, The Netherlands - April 8-16, 2022
Pink Apple Film Festival, Zürich & Frauenfeld, Switzerland - April 26 - May 8, 2022. WINNER: Audience Award for Best Documentary
Competition, CROSSING EUROPE Film Festival, Linz, Austria - April 27 – May 2, 2022
North American Premiere, Hot Docs, Toronto, Canada - April 28 - May 8, 2022
International Documentary Film Competition - Real Lovers, Lovers Film Festival, Italy - April 26 - May 1, 2022. WINNER: Torino Pride Award
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival, USA - May 5 - 19, 2022
Spectrum Film Festival, USA - May 6-8, 2022
Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival, Poland - May 13-22, 2022
DocsBarcelona, Spain - May 18-29, 2022
Blue Mountain Film Festival, Ontario, Canada - June 1-5, 2022
Mix Mexico, Mexico - June 1-July 7, 2022. WINNER: The Mariposa Award for Best Film in the 26th Festival Mix: Cine y Diversidad Sexual.
Skjaldborg, Iceland - June 3-6, 2022
Doc Edge, New Zeeland - June 6-July 5, 2022. WINNER: Best Festival Category: Being Oneself Award
Cinepride Nantes, France - June 14-19, 2022
Festival du Film de Cabourg, France - June 15-19, 2022. WINNER: The Grand Price & The Youth Price
Queer North Film Festival, Ontario, Canada, - June 16-19, 2022
Frameline, USA – June 16-26, 2022
Sheffield Doc/Fest, UK - June 23-28, 2022
La Berlinale à Paris, France - June 24, 2022
Documentarist, Turkey - June 25-30, 2022
Outfest, USA – July 14-24, 2022
TARTUFF, Estonia - August 1-6, 2022
Melbourne International Film Festival, Australia - August 4-21, 2022
Lilla Filmfestivalen i Båstad, Båstad, Sweden - August 5-7, 2022
Way Out West, Sweden - August 11-13, 2022
Edinburgh International Film Festival, Scotland - August 12-20, 2022
MakeDox, North Macedonia - August 18-25, 2022
The Norwegian International Film Festival Haugesund, Norway - August 20-26, 2022
EIDF, Korea - August 22-28, 2022. WINNER: Grand Prix in The Global Competition
AGLIFF/Prism 35, Austin, Texas, USA – August 24-28, 2022
Oslo Pix Filmfestival, Norway - August 28-September 04, 2022
fArad, Romania - September 7-11 2022
House Of Tolerance, Slovenia - September 06, 2022
Vilnius Queer FF, Lithuania - September 07-12, 2022
QFilms Long Beach, USA – September 8 – 11, 2022
Queerfilmfestival, Germany - September 08, 2022
Out On Film Atlanta, USA – September 22 – October 2, 2022. WINNER: Jury Award Winner for Best Documentary
Nordisk Panorama, Sweden - September 22-27, 2022. WINNER: Best Nordic Documentary.
Reeling Chicago, USA – September 22 – Oct 6, 2022
Some Prefer Cake FF, Italy - September 23-25, 2022
Biopic FF, Italy - September 23-28, 2022
Queer Film Marathon, Albania - September 26-30, 2022
GAZE, Ireland - September 28 - October 02, 2022
Oslo Fusion, Norway - September 23-30, 2022: WINNER: Honorable Mention & Audience Award, Documentary Section.
Luststreifen, Switzerland - September 29 - October 02, 2022
Out At The Movies Intl LGBTQ Film Festival, USA – September 29 – October 2, 2022: WINNER: Audience Award Winner for Best Documentary
ImageOut Rochester LGBT Film Festival, USA – 6-16 October, 2022. WINNER: Jury Award Winner for Best Documentary.
Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, USA - 7-15 October, 2022
Reel Pride Winnipeg, Canada – 11–16 October, 2022
Queer Film Festival München, Germany - 11-16 October, 2022: WINNER: QFFM Audience Award.
Seattle Queer Film Festival, USA – 13-23 October, 2022: WINNER: Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature
Way Out West, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA – October 13-23, 2022
OUTshine Ft. Lauderdale, USA – 13–23 October, 2022: WINNER: Honorable Mention for Best Documentary
Women Make Waves FF, Taiwan - 14-23 October, 2022
Dayton LGBT Film Festival – 14–16 October, 2022
Newfest, New York, USA – 14–25 October, 2022. New York premiere. Nelly & Nadine is the Documentary Centerpiece of the festival.
Antenna Documentary Film Festival, Sydney, Australia – 14-23 October, 2022: WINNER: Antenna Audience Award
Coming Out Days FF, Moldova – 14-16 October, 2022
Femigouin’fest Strasbourg, France – 14-16 October, 2022
QFest Wisconsin, USA – 18–22 October, 2022
Bergen IFF, Norway - 19-27 October, 2022
Chania FF, Greece - 19-30 October, 2022
Lake Placid Film Festival, USA – 20–23 October, 2022
Reel Affirmations, USA – 20–23 October, 2022
TLVfest, Israel - October 27 - November 5, 2022. WINNER: Best Documentary Film.
Nordische Filmtage, Germany - 2-6 November, 2022. WINNER: Special Mention, Documentary Competition.
FREE ZONE, Serbia - 3-8 November, 2022
Queersicht Bern, Switzerland - 3-9 November, 2022
Meziapatra CZ, Czech Republic - 3-18 November, 2022
One World Bratislava, Slovakia - 5-11 November, 2022
Verzio, Hungary - 8-16 November, 2022
Memorimage - Cinema de Reus, Spain - 8-11 November, 2022. WINNER: Best Film - City of Reus Award.
Pink Panorama Luzern, Switzerland - 9-12 November, 2022
Noordelijk FF, The Netherlands - 9-13 November, 2022
Nordic Docs, Norway - 9-13 November, 2022
Big Italy, Italy - 9-19 November, 2022
Melbourne Queer Ff, Australia - 10-21 November, 2022
Constellation Nizza, France - 11-13 November, 2022
QDoc Film Festival, USA – 11-13 November, 2022
Movies on War, Norway - 16-20 November, 2022
OUT FF, Kenya - 17-19 November, 2022
DIALOGUES - Calcutta International LGBTQIA+ Film and Video Festival, India - November 17-20, 2022
Image+Nation, Festival Film LGBT Queer Montreal, Canada – 17-27 November, 2022
Wicked Queer Docs, USA – 18-21 November, 2022
Chéries Chéries, France - 19-29 November, 2022
Bruges Dokfest, 20 November, 2022
Queer Porto, Portugal - 29 Nov - 4 Dec, 2022
Molodist, Ukraine - 1-7 December, 2022
Gimme Some Truth, Canada – 7–11 December, 2022
One World, Slovakia - 8-11 December, 2022
Ljubljana LGBT Film Festival, Slovenia - 10-18 December, 2022. WINNER: Audience Award Best Film.
Palm Springs International Film Festival, California, USA - 5-16 January, 2023
ReFrame Film Festival, Canada – January 26 – February 3, 2023.
World Community Film Festival, Canada – February 3-12, 2023
Visa Offices Affinity Group (via Polaris/AGLIFF), USA – February 7, 2023
Dealing With the Past, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina - February 10-16, 2023
Beijing Queer Film Festival, China – February 2023
Ecrans Mixtes, France March 01-09, 2023
Artdocfest Riga, Latvia - March 02-09, 2023
Salt Spring Film Festival, Canada – March 03-05, 2023
Kosmorama Trondheim International Film Festival, Norway - March 06-12, 2023
IFF Assen, The Netherlands - March 10-12, 2023
Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival, USA – March 16-19, 2023
Roze Filmdagen, The Netherlands - March 23-April 04, 2023
SAND – LGBT+ History Festival, UK - March 26, 2023
Europe in San Marino, San Marino - March and May, 2023
Verzio Screening Vienna, Austria – April 20-22, 2023
Screenwaves IFF, Australia – April 20-May 05, 2023
Seattle Nordic Film Festival, USA – April 21-23, 2023
Bagdam Espace Toulouse, France – April 28, 2023
Omrop Fryslan, The Netherlands – May 12, 2023
L'Oignon, France – May 13, 2023
Kundera Cinema, Turkey – June 04, 2023
Sofia Pride Film Fest, Bulgaria - June 04-15, 2023 - WINNER: Audience Award
Pride Film Festival (hosted by Rehoboth Beach Film Society), USA – June 9, 2023
Queer Lisboa in Coimbra, Portugal - June 10, 2023
Qara Film Festival, Kazakhstan - July, 2023
Cinema Parallels, Bosnien-Hercegovina - September 6-9, 2023
Mostra OUT Mallorca, Spain - September 20-23, 2023
Cinema Diverse Palm Springs, USA - September 30, 2023.
Adox Film Festival, Lithuania - November, 2023
Human Rights Film Days, Turkey - December 2023
Thessaloniki Doc Fest, Greece - March 2024
Cinehomo Festival, Spain - April 2024 - WINNER: Jury Special Mention
Cinematographe Lausanne, Switzerland - May 2024
Ördögkatlan Art Festival, Hungary - July, 2024
Muestra Cine Lesbico, Spain - September, 2024
Vues d’en face, Grenoble, France - September 25 to October 12, 2024
War on Screen, Chalons-en-Champagne, France - October 7-14, 2024
Festival LGBT+ Et Alors?!, Perpignan, France - October 9-13, 2024
Festival Liberté, j’écris ton nom, Marly-Le-Roi, France - October 16-25, 2024
Chania Film Festival, Chania, Greece - October 16-26, 2024 with the presence of Director Magnus Gertten
KEY CREATIVE CREDITS
DIRECTOR: Magnus Gertten
PRODUCER: Ove Rishøj Jensen for Auto Images, Sweden
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Caroline Troedsson
EDITORS: Jesper Osmund & Phil Jandaly
COMPOSER: Marthe Belsvik Stavrum
SOUND DESIGN: Are Åberg, Krister Johnson, Jørgen Meyer, Audun Røstad, Katarzyna Maria Wieczorek
VOICE OF NELLY: Anne Coesens
VOICE OF NADINE: Bwanga Pilipili
RESEARCH & STORY CONSULTANT: Philippe Van Meerbeeck
HEAD OF RESEARCH: Sebastian Claesson
COLOUR GRADING: Rune Felix Holm & Jakob Schaumburg
GRAPHIC DESIGN: Annelies Veas
CO-PRODUCERS: Bram Crols & Mark Daems, Associate Directors, Belgium. Ingrid Galadriel Aune Falch, Christian Aune Falch & Torstein Parelius, UpNorth Film, Norway
IN COLLABORATION WITH: Monique Marnette, ADV Productions
An AUTO IMAGES production in co-production with
ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS, UPNORTH FILM, SVT, VRT CANVAS, RTBF (Télévision belge), FILM I SKÅNE
with support from
SWEDISH FILM INSTITUTE, FLANDERS AUDIOVISUAL FUND (VAF), NORWEGIAN FILM INSTITUTE, MIDTNORSK FILMSENTER, FRITT ORD, NORDISK FILM & TV FOND, NORDVISION, CREATIVE EUROPE MEDIA
In collaboration with:
RUV TV, Iceland, Yle, the Finnish Broadcasting Company, DR, Denmark, RTVSLO, Slovenia