Submarine, Cinephil Team With Participant to Distribute Nazism-Themed Doc ‘Final Account’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Nick Vivarelli
·2 min read

U.S. documentary specialist Submarine Entertainment and Israel-based sales company Cinephil are teaming up with Participant Media to distribute the Luke Holland-directed documentary “Final Account,” about the legacy of Nazism, which is set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September.

Submarine is teaming with Participant to jointly represent the film’s domestic sales, while Cinephil will handle international sales outside the U.S.

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The high-profile doc is a deeply researched depiction of the last living generation of German participants in Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich.

This oral history of the Third Reich raises “vital questions about authority, conformity, complicity, national identity, responsibility and historical reckoning,” according to promotional materials, showing how men and women ranging from former SS members to civilians contend “in very different ways with their memories, perceptions and personal appraisals of their own roles in the greatest human crimes in history.”

Holland, who spent a decade filming and directing the project, also produced the film, alongside John Battsek and Riete Oord. Participant’s Jeff Skoll and Diane Weyermann executive produced, with Andrew Ruhemann and Claire Aguilar.

Sadly, Holland passed away earlier this month at 71. A prominent documentary filmmaker and activist, he was best known for the five-part BBC Storyville series “A Very English Village” as well as “I Was a Slave Laborer,” about the campaign for forced and slave labor compensation, which in 1999 helped secure a $5 billion settlement.

“Being part of helping Luke realize his 10-year vision has been one of the most important and rewarding experiences of my career,” John Battsek said in a statement. “It now falls to all of us involved to ensure that the vital messages of his film are seen and heard by as many people as possible.”

Oord in the statement also noted she is “extremely proud that we were able to help” Holland “realize his ambition and vision to create a film of powerful and lasting impact.”

Diane Weyermann, chief content officer for Participant, said that “Final Account” “not only is a beautiful, powerful testament to the life and work of Luke Holland, it also serves as timely, essential viewing for filmgoers, especially given what’s going on in the world today.”

Tied to the film’s release, Participant will be working with the USC Shoah Foundation, the global organization founded by Steven Spielberg, to counter antisemitism and other forms of hatred through testimony—for educational distribution of the doc.

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