The Director

An artist's life, a pact with the devil, and the dangerous illusions of the silver screen. G.W. Pabst, one of cinema's greatest directors of the 20th century, was filming in France when the Nazis seized power. To escape the horrors of the new and unrecognizable Germany, he fled to Hollywood. But now, under the blinding California sun, the world-famous director suddenly looks like a nobody. Not even Greta Garbo, the Hollywood actress whom he made famous, can help him. When he receives word that his elderly mother is ill, he finds himself back in his homeland of Austria, which is now called Ostmark. Pabst, his wife, and his young son are suddenly caught between two worlds—one dying and violent, one false but seductive. For Pabst, the stakes have never been higher. He must decide between his art and his family, between his ambition and his conscience. His choice will have devastating consequences. Masterfully told, The Director is an intimate epic, a portrait of the moral ambiguities that arise when art and history collide.