Films at TI: Shifting Paths with Filmmaker Charles Abelman

Shifting Paths is a multi-generational narrative exploring one family's resilience during the 1933 boycott of Jewish businesses in Frankfurt, Germany. This film traces the loss of a family-owned pharmaceutical company and how a once banned chamomile product, Kamillosan, has survived today with few knowing anything of its history.  Arthur Abelmann founded the Chemiewerk pharmaceutical company in Frankfurt in the early 1920s.  The film captures Frankfurt’s transformation between 1932 and 1934, highlighting Abelmann’s efforts to protect his company and family amid rising danger. After Hitler’s rise to power, the Nazi Doctors' Association banned his products, and on the eve of Boycott Saturday in 1933, he sent his family to Zurich before resigning from the Chemiewerk. The company was soon taken over by Degussa and IG Farben. The film uses first-person narratives, family artifacts, and archival media juxtaposing the vibrant Jewish cultural life in Frankfurt with the rise of Nazi oppression. Incorporating materials from the Arthur Abelmann collection at the Jewish Center for History and images from Frankfurt archives, the film explores the themes of survival, loss, and legacy.  By blending historical visuals with modern footage, the film bridges past and present, telling an enduring story of resilience and hope.

Register to join us onsite on September 7 at 12:30 p.m. Cost: $5 Members/$10 Non Members. Contact cajl@tisrael.org with questions.

About Charles Abelmann

Charles Abelmann lives in Washington DC and is the director and producer of the short documentary Shifting Paths. His mother and his grandparents and great parents were members of Temple Israel. He is an educator with a background in research, policy and practice. Earlier in his career, he worked at the World Bank managing education projects in a wide number of countries including Uganda, Tanzania, China, and Mongolia. He has also led public and private schools including being the Director at the Laboratory Schools at the University of Chicago while also having an appointment at the university as a lecturer. He currently works as a documentary filmmaker and as an executive coach. His films are a part of the New Day Film Cooperative. He attended Duke University for his undergraduate education and Harvard Graduate School of Education for his M.A and Ed.D.