Nelly & Nadine: Moving documentary about a unique love story that began in Ravensbrück concentration camp
Plot and background
The documentary “Nelly & Nadine” tells the story of two women who fall in love with each other at Christmas in 1944. The two are prisoners in the Ravensbrück concentration camp. Nelly Mousset-Vos, a Belgian opera singer, has been commissioned to sing Christmas carols for a troop of French prisoners at Ravensbrück. The Chinese activist and prisoner Nadine Hwang is among the audience and wishes Nelly to sing something from Madame Butterfly. The opera singer sings “Un bel di vedremo” to Nadine, who listens to the aria and falls in love. The two women become a couple and are one heart and soul. However, when Nelly is transferred to another camp, they part ways. But Nelly and Nadine survive the war and are freed from the concentration camps. They find each other again and build a life together. For some time, the two women move to Venezuela to live out their relationship freely, but then return to Europe in the early 1970s and spend the last years of their lives in Brussels. But despite their shared lives, their love remains a well-kept secret for a long time.
Nelly’s granddaughter Sylvie now finally reveals the couple’s private archive and their remarkable story. The archive contains photographs, film reels, love letters and a diary written by Nelly. Carried by Nelly’s poignant accounts, “Nelly & Nadine” tells of war suffering, love despite all obstacles, secrets and the power of music.
“Nelly & Nadine” – cast, background, cinema release
The multi-award-winning Swedish director Magnus Gerttens (“Becoming Zlatan”) brings the touching love story of Nelly and Nadine to the big screen as a documentary. As the third part, “Nelly & Nadine” concludes a trilogy by Magnus Gerttens and follows the films “Harbour of Hope” (2011) and “Every Face has a Name” (2015). With “Nelly & Nadine”, the filmmaker and Nelly’s granddaughter Sylvie reveal the couple’s secret and show their remarkable story, which is particularly valuable as a very rare and early contemporary document of queer life.
The documentary was awarded the Teddy Jury Award at the Berlinale 2022 and can be seen in German cinemas from 24 November 2022.
