13 Driver's Licenses

Overview

13 Driver's Licenses is the first part of a documentary film diptych by Ryo Terao about the lives of Jews in the small Bavarian town of Lichtenfels. The film tells the story of the discovery several years ago of 13 driver's licenses in the local government office: the documents were confiscated in 1938 from Jewish drivers. A group of local high school students, along with their teacher, attempt to trace the fate of the owners of these licenses, eventually finding out that five of them, along with their family members, were killed, while eight managed to escape. The investigators get in touch with the descendants of the victims and invite some of them to the town where the lives of their ancestors were tragically cut short. Ryo Terao's film has been screened at film festivals around the world and has received numerous awards.