The Windermere Children
# The Windermere Children

The Windermere Children is a 2020 biographical drama film written by Simon Block and directed by Michael Samuels. Based on the experience of child survivors of the Holocaust, it follows the children and staff of a camp set up on the Calgarth Estate in Troutbeck Bridge, near Lake Windermere, England, where the survivors were helped to rehabilitate, rebuild their lives, and integrate into the British society. The film was produced by Simon Block as 'executive producer' with Nancy Bornat as factual producer and Ben Evans as development producer. The film first aired on BBC Two in January 2020.

## Cast

* Iain Glen as Jock Lawrence
* Romola Garai as Marie Paneth
* Thomas Kretschmann as Oscar Friedmann
* Tim McInnerny as Leonard Montefiore
* Philipp Christopher as Georg Lauer
* Kuba Sprenger as Ike Alterman
* Anna Schumacher as Edith Lauer
* Pascal Fischer as Ben Helfgott
* Jakub Jankiewicz as Salek Falinower
* Kacper Swietek as Chaim Olmer
* Tomasz Studzinski as Arek Hersh
* Lukasz Zieba as Juliusz

## Production

The real Calgarth Estate was demolished in the 1960s. The Lakes School near Windermere now stands on the former site of the wartime housing scheme that actually housed the children in 1945.

Although set in the Lake District, the production was actually filmed in locations around Northern Ireland.

## Reception

As of October 2021, the film holds a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 11 reviews with an average rating of 8.5/10.

## Awards

In October 2020, The Windermere Children won the Best European TV Movie of the Year prize at Prix Europa. A jury member commented "This story gives hope, told with a twinkle in the eye, making the children's stories, their traumas and their losses manageable for the viewer."

