The Champagne Spy

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The Champagne Spy

Paris 1962. Oded is 12 years old when his father reveals to him he’s a secret agent for the Israeli Mossad and makes him swear to secrecy because his life depends on it. When his father leaves on his mission to Cairo assuming the identity of Wolfgang Lotz – a German millionaire, ex Nazi, playboy and horse breeder – Oded struggles with the heavy secret and the longing for his father. As he penetrates the closed circle of German scientists developing missiles in Egypt, Lotz begins to succumb to his covert identity, living the high life, spending millions and even secretly marrying a German woman he meets on a train. Oded and his mother are left behind to the care of the Mossad, alone in Paris, waiting for his return.
After dramatic incidents, a sensational trial and a few years in prison, Lotz returns to Israel but never comes back home. Torn between identities, still addicted to the glamorous life his covert mission allowed him to taste, Lotz doesn’t find his place and ultimately ends his days in frustration and poverty, working as a salesman in a Munich department store.
In this dramatic documentary , Oded breaks 40 years of silence and sets out to explore his father’s real and covert identities, giving us a rare glimpse into the cloak of espionage, confronting the heavy personal and emotional price paid by those who stay in the shadows – the family of the spy.

Festivals and Awards:

Best Documentary at the Israeli Academy Awards, 2007; Special Mention at DocAviv International Film Festival, Israel, 2007;  Seattle International Film Festival, USA, 2007; LA International Film Festival, USA, 2007; Vancouver International Film Festival, Canada, 2007; Munich International Film Festival,  Germany, 2007; London BFI, UK, 2007; Special Awards for the Producers, Best Editing, Best Original Score and Best Soundtrack Editing at the Israeli Documentary Film Awards 2007; Copenhagen International Film Festival, Denmark, 2007; Hamburg International Film Festival, Germany, 2007; IDFA, the Netherlands, 2007; Seville EuroDocs, Spain, 2007; Nominated for Best Mediterranean Doc at CMCA, 2007

Director: Nadav Schirman

Producer: Eilon Rachkovsky, Koby Gal Raday, Carl Ludwig Rettinger

Production Company: July August Productions (Israel), Lichtblick Films (Germany)

Cinematographer: Itay Neeman

Editor: Joelle Alexis

Soundtrack Editor: Gil Toren

Original Soundtrack: Ran Bagno

Supporter(s): The New Fund for Cinema and Television, ZDF/ARTE, NRW, Israeli Channel 10,

Script: Nadav Schirman

Distributor: IsraeliFilms

Subtitles: Hebrew, English

Film Name in Hebrew: מרגל השמפניה

Paris 1962. Oded is 12 years old when his father reveals to him he’s a secret agent for the Israeli Mossad and makes him swear to secrecy because his life depends on it. When his father leaves on his mission to Cairo assuming the identity of Wolfgang Lotz – a German millionaire, ex Nazi, playboy and horse breeder – Oded struggles with the heavy secret and the longing for his father. As he penetrates the closed circle of German scientists developing missiles in Egypt, Lotz begins to succumb to his covert identity, living the high life, spending millions and even secretly marrying a German woman he meets on a train. Oded and his mother are left behind to the care of the Mossad, alone in Paris, waiting for his return.
After dramatic incidents, a sensational trial and a few years in prison, Lotz returns to Israel but never comes back home. Torn between identities, still addicted to the glamorous life his covert mission allowed him to taste, Lotz doesn’t find his place and ultimately ends his days in frustration and poverty, working as a salesman in a Munich department store.
In this dramatic documentary , Oded breaks 40 years of silence and sets out to explore his father’s real and covert identities, giving us a rare glimpse into the cloak of espionage, confronting the heavy personal and emotional price paid by those who stay in the shadows – the family of the spy.

Festivals and Awards:

Best Documentary at the Israeli Academy Awards, 2007; Special Mention at DocAviv International Film Festival, Israel, 2007;  Seattle International Film Festival, USA, 2007; LA International Film Festival, USA, 2007; Vancouver International Film Festival, Canada, 2007; Munich International Film Festival,  Germany, 2007; London BFI, UK, 2007; Special Awards for the Producers, Best Editing, Best Original Score and Best Soundtrack Editing at the Israeli Documentary Film Awards 2007; Copenhagen International Film Festival, Denmark, 2007; Hamburg International Film Festival, Germany, 2007; IDFA, the Netherlands, 2007; Seville EuroDocs, Spain, 2007; Nominated for Best Mediterranean Doc at CMCA, 2007

Director: Nadav Schirman

Producer: Eilon Rachkovsky, Koby Gal Raday, Carl Ludwig Rettinger

Production Company: July August Productions (Israel), Lichtblick Films (Germany)

Cinematographer: Itay Neeman

Editor: Joelle Alexis

Soundtrack Editor: Gil Toren

Original Soundtrack: Ran Bagno

Supporter(s): The New Fund for Cinema and Television, ZDF/ARTE, NRW, Israeli Channel 10,

Script: Nadav Schirman

Distributor: IsraeliFilms

Subtitles: Hebrew, English

Film Name in Hebrew: מרגל השמפניה

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