Charlotte - the story of the Jewish- German artist cut short by WWII

A film screening will be held on Wednesday, March 29 in The Dock, at 7pm: Charlotte - the story of the German-Jewish artist Charlotte Salomon, whose life and prolific artistic output were cut short by the Second World War.

Voiced by Keira Knightley, Marion Cotillard and Brenda Blethyn and directed by Tahir Rana and Éric Warin, this animated feature film tells the little known true story of Charlotte Salomon.

This young German Jewish artist came of age on the eve of the Second World War and defied incredible odds to create a timeless masterpiece. The life of this painter, auteur, enigma, was tragically cut short in Auschwitz at the young age of 26.

Although not so widely known, she was indeed prolific and despite her short life, she left behind an impressive body of work. Believing that only an extraordinary act would save her, Charlotte embarked on the monumental adventure of painting her life story.

The resulting large series of 769 gouaches entitled Life? or Theatre was assembled as if the artist knew there wasn’t a moment to lose... this final work testifies to the horrors she witnessed as a Jew living in Germany during World War II and to the unexpected happiness she found while living as a refugee on the French Côte d’Azur.

In between images of Nazis swarming the streets of Berlin, there are tender pictures of lovers and sunbathers painted vividly in her signature lime-greens and glimmering Mediterranean blues.

But there is more to this young artist’s story, with depression, suicide and even murder hidden deep in her family history. It chronicles the genesis of an artist from a family of dark secrets; mental illness, nervous breakdowns, molestation, suicides, drug overdoses, and Freudian love triangles: a harbinger to our age of grand confessionals.

For bookings please visit www.thedock.ie or call the box office on 071 96 50 828.

Tickets €8.