SYNOPSIS
THE LOST VOICE is the search for purpose of filmmaker Christina, who embarks on a journey to uncover the life and legacy of her great-grand aunt Pola, a pioneering woman filmmaker in the Amazon. While the storyline follows Christina as she travels across Germany and Brazil, conducting interviews, searching archives, and retracing Pola’s steps, excerpts from Pola’s own writings voiced by Nina Hoss provide historical context, recounting the Amazon expedition and the making of the film “Urwaldsymphonie: Die grüne Hölle.” Furthermore, throughout Christina’s journey voiceover letters to Pola serves as a narrative thread, blending personal reflection with investigative progress. The story is driven by Christina's search for the truth about Pola, whose story was lost to time, and to understand her own struggles and identity through Pola's experiences. The story touches on the complexities of family history during the Nazi era, including revelations about Pola’s marriages, her last husband’s NSDAP membership, and the difficulty of finding solid proof. The story concludes with Christina recognizing the impact of her quest on herself and those she met along the way.
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
When I first set out on this journey, my mission was clear: to save the story of my great-grand aunt Pola, a woman whose life had been shrouded in mystery. What I didn’t know then was that my quest would become something far more personal. As I uncovered evidence that Pola might have been the first woman to ever film in the Amazon, I felt an overwhelming sense of purpose. This was a story I had to tell, not just to preserve her legacy, but to uncover my own.
Tracing Pola’s footsteps took me on an extraordinary adventure across the world—from the urban cityscapes of Berlin to the wilderness of the Amazon rainforest. Each new place I visited, each new piece of information I discovered, felt like a step closer to unravelling the truth about who Pola was. But the more I learned, the more I came to understand something that no document or archive could reveal: I could never truly reconstruct her emotional journey. The challenges she faced, the moments of doubt, the ways in which she navigated her world as a woman in a male-dominated industry—those experiences were lost to time. I could only imagine what it might have been like for her.
In searching for Pola, I traveled more than 10,000 kilometers, from bustling cities to remote jungles, digging into Pola’s history and examining my own. Along the way, I met extraordinary women and men—people who shared their wisdom, their stories, and their support. I forged new friendships and discovered family members I never knew I had. These connections, each one unique and profound, began to shape the story I was telling. But what I didn’t expect was that Pola’s story would ultimately lead me to my own truth.
Through the process of saving her story, I found my own voice. Pola, though she lived nearly a century ago, helped me confront my own fears and uncertainties, reminding me that my journey was not so different from hers. As much as I wanted to ensure that Pola’s contributions to cinema were not forgotten, I realized that this journey was not only about preserving the past—it was about reclaiming my own identity, my own purpose, and my own ‘lost voice’ in a world that often tries to silence women.
In the end, what began as a search to uncover Pola’s history became a transformative exploration of self. I learned that sometimes, in the pursuit of someone else’s story, we find our own.
