The Loom

Synopsis: Hanni’s husband, Albert, an artist conscripted into war, returns home to discover an unknown family living in his apartment and his own family buried in the yard. Hanni had shot and killed their four daughters, her mom and herself. Albert throws himself into his art to survive, eventually rebuilding his life with his new family in America. He rarely speaks of the past, but evidence of his loss appears in his art, raising uncomfortable questions about what happened to his first family and the impact it had on his second family.

Longline: The Loom provides an intimate take on an overlooked story of World War II through the experience of a forgotten mother, one of thousands of women driven to suicide by the mass rapes by Soviet soldiers, Nazi propaganda and the incomprehensibility of life after the war.

Framing the Film: The Loom is a personal documentary that explores the Battle for Berlin from the perspective of a forgotten woman. The art and stained glass made by her surviving husband offer clues to what happened, while his beautifully illustrated letters to Helene’s grandmother reveal his grief and struggle to escape East Berlin for a new life in America with his second family. The discovery of an heirloom leads Helene to question how shame, silence and totalitarianism conspired to obscure the truth of what happened to Hanni and her four daughters. Interviews with survivors of ongoing conflicts illustrate how war continues to play out on the bodies of women and girls across the world.

Production Design: The aesthetic of the film is deeply rooted in the philosophy of Bauhaus weaver Anni Albers and the primary source material of the Allwelt family story. Albert’s letters, photographs and artwork inspire the production design. In the film, Albert’s letters tell his story as animation brings his watercolors to life. The cinematography simulates trauma’s effect on memory. A vintage lens blurs all but one house on the block. The camera focuses on the details that endure as souvenirs of a moment: a name etched across a loom, a dollhouse door, the imperfections of a childhood toy. A flower in the father’s stained glass window comes alive, mimicking the momentary escape of wishful thinking that often follows a great loss. Intimate, tactile moments complement the story’s emotional context: the tension of bending glass, the anxiety of fingers sorting incandescent glass shards, the reconciliation of fusing pieces together, and acceptance as light passes through a finished panel of stained glass and dances across the floor.

Outreach: The Loom brings together an international group of storytellers, visual artists, technicians, researchers, designers, a composer and a puppeteer who believe in the transformative power of documentary film and community engagement. Among our outreach activities, we’re conducting workshops with Inner Weaving and Free Center that focus on the healing power of art.