Part heist film, part probing documentary, director Dan Sturman and screenwriter Gary Gilbert take us on a quest to find stamps pilfered by a Nazi officer and buried in a basement in Legnica, Poland, in The Stamp Thief—a cinematic blend of Argo and The Rape of Europa. Gilbert (a writer for Seinfeld) sets out to find the stamps after hearing the story from his fellow screenwriter, David Weisberg. No writers’ room could invent a more intriguing premise: David’s psychiatrist father, Paul, treated a fireman married to the daughter of the Nazi who allegedly stole the stamps from a concentration camp. Gilbert assembles a crew and gains access to the basement in Legnica by posing as a production team shooting a feature film. The result is a tremendously entertaining film about an eighty-year-old heist, the ethics of misrepresenting the truth in order to do a mitzvah, and the intractable mistrust between some Poles and Jews. —Nancy Fishman
2021 JFI Completion Grant
Bay Area Premiere
Dan is an Academy Award-winning filmmaker whose work includes Twin Towers (Oscar, 2003), the Sundance and Emmy-winning Nanking, and Soundtrack for a Revolution—both short-listed for Academy Awards and released theatrically. His films have screened at top festivals including Cannes, Sundance, Tribeca, and Hot Docs, and been showcased at prestigious venues such as the White House, MoMA, and the Grammy Museum. Known for powerful historical storytelling, Dan’s work continues to resonate globally.
Co-sponsored by Nancy Blachman
This film is available with closed captions.