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Venice Horizons Opener ‘The Girl With the Leica’ Boarded by Fandango Sales (EXCLUSIVE)
Fandango Sales has acquired international sales rights to "The Girl With the Leica," directed by Alina Marazzi, which will open the Venice Film Festival's Horizons section. The film centres on Gerda Taro, the pioneering German-Jewish war photographer whose legacy was long overshadowed by her partner André Friedmann, who adopted the pseudonym "Robert Capa" partly to evade rising political intolerance and appeal to American audiences, meaning many photographs credited to Capa were actually Taro's work. Taro, who died covering the Spanish Civil War as the first female photojournalist killed in action, is given renewed focus through this project, which producers say feels increasingly relevant given current global tensions.
Set in Paris on 14 July 1937, the film follows Taro's final day before returning to the Spanish front, weaving in flashbacks to her political activism in Leipzig, her exile in Paris, her romance with Capa and her growing use of photography as a form of resistance. It stars Emilia Schüle, Aaron Altaras, Luna Wedler, Lucas Englander and Thomas Schubert, and is produced by Vivo Film and Komplizen Film. Fandango Sales' Raffaella Di Giulio praised Marazzi's blend of archival footage and fiction, marking the companies' first collaboration together.
In short
- Fandango Sales boards Venice Horizons opener "The Girl With the Leica"
- Film tells story of photojournalist Gerda Taro, overshadowed by "Robert Capa"
- Directed by Alina Marazzi, stars Emilia Schüle and Aaron Altaras
Explained simply
Gerda Taro was a pioneering photojournalist who became the first female war photographer to die in action, covering the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. Her work documenting conflict and political upheaval was groundbreaking, yet much of her legacy was overshadowed because she worked in partnership with André Friedmann, who adopted the pseudonym Robert Capa.
Taro was a German-Jewish photographer who fled to Paris as political intolerance rose in her homeland. Though her partnership with Capa was creatively productive, it also meant her own photographs were often attributed to him, and after her death at just 26, she largely vanished from historical accounts. In recent years, there has been growing interest in reassessing her life and work.
A new film directed by Alina Marazzi centres on Taro's final day in Paris before returning to cover the Spanish front, while also depicting her political activism, her exile from Germany and her relationship with Capa. The film weaves archival footage with dramatised scenes to explore how photography became integral to her life and activism.
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