The Passport Forger: Biopic about a Jewish passport forger hiding in the middle of Berlin in 1942. Portrayed by Louis Hofmann.
Film plot and background
Biopic about a Jewish passport forger hiding in the middle of Berlin in 1942. Portrayed by Louis Hofmann.
“Good forgeries are basically like little works of art”. It is due to his talent and a modicum of luck that Cioma Schönhaus (Louis Hofmann) goes into hiding in the middle of Berlin. The year is 1942. As a Jew, he only narrowly escaped deportation and doesn’t let it take away his zest for life. At the side of his good friend Det (Jonathan Berlin), he goes into hiding where he could least be expected – in the capital itself. Thanks to his talent as a graphic artist, he helps hundreds of other Jews to escape, forges lost passports and thus increasingly puts himself in danger.
In Berlin, it is not only the risky game of hide-and-seek that keeps him here, but also Gerda (Luna Wedler), who becomes his great love and is herself a master of disguise. As the war intensifies and the Gestapo picks up his trail, he soon needs a forged passport himself to ensure his escape. By bicycle, he sets off for the Swiss border.
“The Passport Forger” – background, cast, cinema release
In his memoir “The Passport Forger: The Incredible Story of a Young Graphic Artist Who Fought the Nazis in the Underground”, Cioma Schönhaus looks back on the war years in the 1940s with a distance of almost 50 years. During this time, the then 20-year-old helped countless Jews to forge passports. Through his work, he was independent at the time and was able to hold his own against the Nazi henchmen with ingenuity.
In the film of the same name, “The Passport Forger”, director Maggie Peren brings Schönhaus’ life story to film. Louis Hofmann (“Dark”) slips into the leading role, other stars are Luna Wedler (“Biohackers”), Jonathan Berlin (“The Third King”), Nina Gummich (“Babylon Berlin”) as well as André Jung (“Wanda mein Wunder”) and Marc Limpach (“Bad Banks”).
“The Passport Forger” was made in Germany and Luxembourg and celebrated its world premiere out of competition at the Berlinale 2022 as a grand gala. “The Passport Forger” will be released regularly in German cinemas on 13 October 2022.
