Finding Edi - a film about a 73 year journey of love, hope and history.

By Wiebke Finkler

video

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Film,

NZ $25 pledged


1 people pledged


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NZ $15,000 minimum target


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This campaign failed to reach its target by 21/05/2018 at 3:00 AM (NZST) and is now closed.

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About

Finding Edi - A Film About A 73 Year Journey Of Love, Hope And History.

Project 2018-02-23 06:18:44 +1300

Watch our story on The Project (TV3):  https://www.facebook.com/TheProjectNZ/videos/1168572813279370/

 

In April 2017, I came across a post on Facebook from a New Zealand family based in Dunedin. Their late family member, Walter Chissell, had fought in World War II and returned to New Zealand with the satchel of a German soldier named Edi Fickeis. For more than 70 years, the New Zealand family (including Walter's daughter Shirley Witehira) has been trying to find the relatives of Edi in order to return the bag to them. After seven decades of searching, the family was finally successful: we have found the German family, who recently travelled to New Zealand to meet the New Zealand family, and to be re-united with their father's bag, personal photographs and letters.

We are now trying to raise funds to make a film about their story: a story of love, hope and not giving up. The film will honour the New Zealand family and capture the story of Walter Chissell, Shirley Witehira, Eleni Witehira, Xzenia Witehira as well as the German soldier Edi Fickeis and his son Axel and wife Monika. In addition, the film explores my perspective as 'Giwi' (a proud 20-year German-born resident of New Zealand) and filmmaker. After seeing the Facebook post, we tracked down the German family with the help of my terminally ill father, Rolf, who was a retired Interpol officer. In fact, the story of Edi was the last proper conversation I had with my Dad before he sadly passed away. This film is an artistic reflection on Edi's story set in New Zealand and Germany: a story of war, populism and families re-uniting people from opposite sides of the world (and war).

Finding Edi is a story about what a community of people can achieve when they care and work together. It is a story about humanity, and how time can heal the horrors of the past and bring people from different sides of the world together. Your support will help us capture Edi's story to inspire future generations!

Visit www.FindingEdi.com for further details.

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Pledgers 1

Grant Findlay
26/02/2018 at 3:32pm

"Good luck with your project Wiebke. Wish I could put across more but I'll spread the word! Loved shooting with you. Talk soon :) G"

Followers

Followers of Finding Edi - a film about a 73 year journey of love, hope and history.

Finding Edi - A Film About A 73 Year Journey Of Love, Hope And History.

Project 2018-02-23 06:18:44 +1300

Watch our story on The Project (TV3):  https://www.facebook.com/TheProjectNZ/videos/1168572813279370/

 

In April 2017, I came across a post on Facebook from a New Zealand family based in Dunedin. Their late family member, Walter Chissell, had fought in World War II and returned to New Zealand with the satchel of a German soldier named Edi Fickeis. For more than 70 years, the New Zealand family (including Walter's daughter Shirley Witehira) has been trying to find the relatives of Edi in order to return the bag to them. After seven decades of searching, the family was finally successful: we have found the German family, who recently travelled to New Zealand to meet the New Zealand family, and to be re-united with their father's bag, personal photographs and letters.

We are now trying to raise funds to make a film about their story: a story of love, hope and not giving up. The film will honour the New Zealand family and capture the story of Walter Chissell, Shirley Witehira, Eleni Witehira, Xzenia Witehira as well as the German soldier Edi Fickeis and his son Axel and wife Monika. In addition, the film explores my perspective as 'Giwi' (a proud 20-year German-born resident of New Zealand) and filmmaker. After seeing the Facebook post, we tracked down the German family with the help of my terminally ill father, Rolf, who was a retired Interpol officer. In fact, the story of Edi was the last proper conversation I had with my Dad before he sadly passed away. This film is an artistic reflection on Edi's story set in New Zealand and Germany: a story of war, populism and families re-uniting people from opposite sides of the world (and war).

Finding Edi is a story about what a community of people can achieve when they care and work together. It is a story about humanity, and how time can heal the horrors of the past and bring people from different sides of the world together. Your support will help us capture Edi's story to inspire future generations!

Visit www.FindingEdi.com for further details.

Comments

Hey! Thanks for checking out this project.

We haven't made any updates yet, follow us if you want to be notified when we do.

Grant Findlay
26/02/2018 at 3:32pm

"Good luck with your project Wiebke. Wish I could put across more but I'll spread the word! Loved shooting with you. Talk soon :) G"

Followers of Finding Edi - a film about a 73 year journey of love, hope and history.

This campaign was unsuccessful and finished on 21/05/2018 at 3:00 AM.