THE CATCHER

A quintessential story of choice, set in Hitler’s Germany, about a young Jewish woman, Stella, who became a “catcher” betraying the Jews of Berlin and her Jewish lover, Victor, who became a resistance fighter assigned to assassinate the “catchers” of Berlin. This story addresses one of the most profound and difficult questions of the 20th Century and a question anyone could ask themselves today: What would I do to survive?

A thriller and a love story based on the international best seller, ‘Stella,’ by Peter Wyden who grew up with Stella.

Stella was a 19 year old glamorous, young Jewish woman trapped in Berlin during the War; a beautiful, talented singer, whose innocence and dreams for her future at Radio City Music Hall crashed when she was arrested and beaten by the Gestapo and then made the choice to collaborate with them by catching other Jews living underground so that she and her parents would be saved from going to Auschwitz. Her young Jewish lover became a resistance fighter ultimately tasked with assassinating the catchers. Her circle of friends went underground. Stella was the predator, they her potential victims.

Stella, the most infamous "catcher" in Berlin, was known as the "blonde ghost

The CATCHER in Context

In the beginning of the War there were about 15,000 Jews in Berlin living an underground life, many with false identities, many passing as Aryan, none wearing stars. At the end of the War, there were about 1500 left. The rest were caught and sent to the camps and most were caught by the catchers themselves. The story is told from the pov of her childhood friend and later lover Victor. The cast of characters whose paths she crosses from childhood until the end of the War are people who made other choices. These are her friends, acquaintances and work mates in forced labor. We get to know them all. The film investigates choice and denial–in extremis. And what can happen when the 2 collide.

The producer/writer/director, Donna Deitch, optioned the book 20 years ago. She has make dozens of trips to Berlin and New York to track down many of the people in Peter Wyden’s book to get their stories. They’re all dead now.

Script available upon request:

Donna Deitch
111 Park Place Venice, California 90291
310 399-0013 Office Tel. What’sApp +1 310 486 8812
WWW.DONNADEITCH.COM