Nelly & Nadine is the unlikely love story between two women falling in love on Christmas Eve, 1944, in the Ravensbrück concentration camp. Despite being separated in the last months of the war, Nelly and Nadine manage to later reunite and spend the rest of their life together. For many years their love story was kept a secret, even to some of their closest family. Now Nelly’s grandchild, Sylvie, has decided to open Nelly and Nadine’s unseen personal archives and uncover their remarkable story.
Directed by Magnus Gertten (Every Face Has a Name) and produced by Ove Rishøj Jensen (Praying for Armeggedon), the film closely follows Sylvie as she learns more of the particulars of her grandmother’s life. She is the keeper of the family archives and its secrets which her family stored in the attic and ignored for decades. After delving in, she uncovers a trove of writing, films, and photos that present a moving testimony to an enduring love that transcended the Holocaust itself.
Nelly & Nadine had its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in 2022, where it won the Teddy Jury Award, the highest honor for a queer film, and has since played at prestigious film festivals in the United States including Frameline, Outfest, Newfest as their Documentary Centerpiece and the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Released theatrically in New York City on December 16, 2022, and is now on VOD on several platforms including Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Vudu and Wolfe On Demand.