THE ENEMY WITHIN

The Enemy Within
52 min /colour / betaSp / Canada / 2003

Synopsis
In May, 1943, Theo Melzer, a 20-year-old German soldier, was captured by the British army in Africa and shipped to a prisoner of war camp in Canada. When filmmaker Eva Melzer-Colmers was growing up in Germany, her Dad always told her that his ” time in the Canadian POW camp was the best thing that could have happened to me”.

When she found herself living in Alberta, Eva went looking for her father’s camp and discovered that many ex-POWs had returned to settle in the “enemy” country that had once detained them behind barbed wire. Canada, which abided by the Geneva Convention, housed and fed 34,000 German soldiers during the Second World War in remote camps in Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick.

Interspersed with excerpts from letters home, archival footage and dramatic reenactments, Theo Melzer and four other former POWs recall with gratitude and appreciation how their lives were changed for the better because of Canada’s humane treatment.

Principal Production Team
Writer / director - Eva Colmers
Producer - Bonnie Thompson, NFB
Camera - Randy Tomiuk
Sound - Larry MacDonald
Narration - Eva Colmers
Editor - Justin Pasula
Consultant - Scott Parker
Composer - Jan Randall

Screenings
Global Visions International Documentary Film Festival (Audience Choice Award)
Columbus International Film Festival (Honorable Mention)
at many museums, public libraries and schools such as Lethbridge, Wainwright, Thunderbay, Calgary, Halifax.
History Television, Knowledge Network
3 AMPIA nominations

A production by The National Film Board of Canada
www.nfb.ca
TO ORDER NFB VIDEOS OR DVDS, CALL TODAY!
1-800-267-7710 (Canada)




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	The Enemy Within 52 min /colour / betaSp / Canada / 2003 Synopsis In May, 1943, Theo Melzer, a 20-year-old German soldier, was captured by the British army in Africa and shipped to a prisoner of war camp in Canada. When filmmaker Eva Melzer-Colmers was growing up in Germany, her Dad always told her that his ” time in the Canadian POW camp was the best thing that could have happened to me”. When she found herself living in Alberta, Eva went looking for her father’s camp and discovered that many ex-POWs had returned to settle in the “enemy” country that had once detained them behind barbed wire. Canada, which abided by the Geneva Convention, housed and fed 34,000 German soldiers during the Second World War in remote camps in Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick. Interspersed with excerpts from letters home, archival footage and dramatic reenactments, Theo Melzer and four other former POWs recall with gratitude and appreciation how their lives were changed for the better because of Canada’s humane treatment. Principal Production Team Writer / director - Eva Colmers Producer - Bonnie Thompson, NFB Camera - Randy Tomiuk Sound - Larry MacDonald Narration - Eva Colmers Editor - Justin Pasula Consultant - Scott Parker Composer - Jan Randall Screenings Global Visions International Documentary Film Festival (Audience Choice Award) Columbus International Film Festival (Honorable Mention) at many museums, public libraries and schools such as Lethbridge, Wainwright, Thunderbay, Calgary, Halifax. History Television, Knowledge Network 3 AMPIA nominations A production by The National Film Board of Canada www.nfb.ca TO ORDER NFB VIDEOS OR DVDS, CALL TODAY! 1-800-267-7710 (Canada)