Gaumont Germany’s Sabine de Mardt Discusses Timely Series ‘The Interpreter of Silence,’ ‘In Her Car,’ New Projects

variety.com:

Ed Meza @edmezavar Since its establishment in 2018, Gaumont Germany has produced a wide range of series and TV movies, among them such timely shows as the critically acclaimed “Deutsches Haus” (“The Interpreter of Silence”), which was nominated for the Critics Choice Awards, and the Ukrainian series “In Her Car.” A subsidiary of the French entertainment powerhouse, the Cologne and Berlin-based company also created such ambitious shows as Netflix’s historical epic “Barbarians” – the first season of which was one of the streamer’s most successful non-English-language series worldwide – and the award-winning Sky Original comedy “The Wasp,” about a professional dart player seeking to return to his former glory.

Discussing the company’s latest productions, Gaumont Germany President Sabine de Mardt says it’s important to combine broader entertainment with relevance, something both “The Interpreter of Silence” and “In Her Car” offer. “’The Interpreter of Silence,’ in particular, even though it’s a period story, is sadly topical, in times of rising antisemitism and a political shift to the right that we can feel all over the world.” Produced for Disney+ and based on the novel by Annette Hess, who also created and wrote the series, “The Interpreter of Silence” is the story of a young woman in 1963 whose life changes when she is hired as a translator for the Frankfurt Auschwitz trials. “While we show the court case itself, the focus lies on the psychological trauma that influenced generations also after the war.

Only the conscious confrontation with this trauma is the basis of change and understanding. Of course, this relevance is something that is driving us.” “It’s a great challenge to combine both, broad entertainment with.