Settela, gezicht van het verleden

To many people, the seven-second film extract in which a frightened, dark-eyed girl with a white headscarf is looking out from a wooden freight car while the train is leaving Westerbork Camp has become an icon of the war. The girl lent a face to the anonymous masses that were transported to extermination camps by the Germans. For a long time, it was assumed that she was Jewish and did not have any relatives. In Settela, gezicht van het verleden, Cherry Duyns follows the investigation by journalist Aad Wagenaar, who wanted to determine the girl’s identity. He examined the Westerbork footage, which was shot by Rudolf Breslauer, for traces with which the exact time and date of the recording could be ascertained. After an accurate analysis of the footage, it turned out not to be a Jewish transport, but one of gypsies. The girl was a gypsy girl, and Duyns pays a visit to a number of camp survivors who can tell something about her. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)