Film Synopsis

The Darien Dilemma
A film by Nachum & Erez Laufer
90 minutes; Hebrew with English Subtitles

A father and his filmmaker son explore an untold story of 1,000 Jews stranded in the winter of 1941 on the frozen Danube, waiting a life-or-death decision to be taken by their would-be rescuer, senior Mossad agent Ruth, and her agents in a hotel room in Istanbul. Intriguing storytelling interweaving interviews with the survivors, actors and a father who must tell this story!

The film unfolds a story never told before, of the thousand Viennese Jews on the banks of the Danube, in the winter of 1941, waiting to be sentenced to life or death by their would-be rescuer, senior Mossad agent Ruth, and fellow agents in a hotel room in Istanbul. Originally, Nachum Laufer, intended to tell the story of how he fled from Europe with his mother. However, during research work, he came across the story of another woman, Ruth Kliger "The Lady of he Mossad". His research takes us on a painful and complex journey through history of the Jewish Settlement in Palestine-before WWII. It is also a story within a story; weaving the father's account of Ruth with the moral dilemma she faced dramatically reconstructed by actors, in an attempt to understand one heroine, against the backdrop of a painful historical episode.

Director: Erez Laufer, Screenplay: Nachum Laufer, Director of photography: Yaron Sharf, Erez Laufer, Editor: Miri Laufer, Music composer: Yehuda Poliker, Drama producer: Orly Feldhaim.

The Film is Supported by:
The 2nd Autority for television and Radio, Jerusalem
The New Israeli Foundation for Cinema and Television
National Fund of the Republic of Austria For Victims of National Socialism
Yosi Harel Foundation.