Three Minutes - A Lengthening

PG

Released Aug 19, 2022

1h 9m

Documentary

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54 Reviews

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88%

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Audience Score

Three Minutes - A Lengthening presents a home movie shot by David Kurtz in 1938 in a Jewish town in Poland and tries to postpone its ending. As long as we are watching, history is not over yet. The three minutes of footage, mostly in color, are the only moving images left of the Jewish inhabitants of Nasielsk before the Holocaust. The existing three minutes are examined to unravel the human stories hidden in the celluloid. The footage is imaginatively edited to create a film that lasts more than an hour. Different voices enhance the images. Glenn Kurtz, grandson of David Kurtz, provides his knowledge of the footage. Maurice Chandler, who appears in the film as a boy, shares his memories. Actress Helena Bonham Carter narrates the film essay.

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Critics Consensus

Three Minutes - A Lengthening movingly captures a moment in time while honoring lives soon to be cut short by unimaginable horror.

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Chaya

I appreciated how we were able to see a glimpse of this small town in Poland that only shortly after the 3 minutes of film was taken, was almost completely wiped out. To examine the faces of those who have no one to remember them. I am grateful to Mr. Kurtz for bringing them alive and making such a great effort to find out as much as he possibly can about them because every life is the entire world.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/01/22

Full Review

Bob

Very interesting narrative. That was well done. Certainly worth hearing. Some of photography was too choppy for my taste.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/30/22

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David F

This is a fascinating documentary about a 3 minute home movie taken by travelers to Poland in the 1930s who captured a Jewish community just before its destruction in the Holocaust. The man who came across the film in his family's belongings was eventually able to identify the setting of the film and even talk to some of the people captured in the scenes of people on a street that appear in the film. The documentary is a little bit arty, confining itself almost entirely to showing the 3 minutes of film over and over again while the interviews with sources play over it on the soundtrack, but it is a very interesting look at family history, European history, and just how far you can get tracking down information about old home movies.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/03/24

Full Review

Paul A

As "Three Minutes: A Lengthening" (2022 release; 69 min) opens, we immediately get the entire 3+ min. Footage that was filmed in 1938 in a small village north of Warsaw, Poland. The footage is law quality at times, and high quality at times, and goes back and forth between B&W and color. The voice over (by Helen Bonham Carter) informs us that the footage was discovered in 2009 in Florida, by the grandson of the guy who filmed it. But what are we actually seeing in those 3+ minutes? Couple of comments: this is directed by Dutch film maker Bianca Stigter. Here she assesses what we actually see in this historic footage. Glenn Kurtz, grandson of David Kurtz who filmed this while on a tourist trip across Europe, is intrigued and wants to know more: where was this filmed? Who is being filmed? Etc. So this is not unlike putting together a puzzle, albeit hampered by a 70 years delay, during which most (but not all) of these people have perished and much (but not all) if the small village has been torn down and/or rebuilt. Like revealing an onion's layer after layer, more information is revealed to us. The film makers do an excellent job putting it all together in a way that combines history and mystery, paying tribute to the erstwhile population of a small Polish village whose Jewish population was decimated by the Holocaust. I readily admit I had not heard of this film, that is until I read NPR's list of the "50 Best Movies and TV of 2022" and I immediately knew I just had to see this. The fact that it is currently rated 100% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes certainly didn't hurt either. "Three Minutes: A Lengthening" is currently streaming on Hulu, where I caught it last night. If you have any interest in the Holocaust or Europe's pre-WWII era, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

Full Review

dave d

A fascinating and illuminating film of a lost Polish city that was filmed in 1938. It details just how important moving pictures can be to aid our lost memories. It doesn't feel receptive, it instead feels fresh despite the original film being just over three minutes. The feature is only 69 minutes and the detail that Bianca Stigter and Glenn Kurtz glean from the limited filming is astonishing. This short piece of history found by Kurtz was first turned into a book, 'Three Minutes in Poland". Kurtz has examined every piece of footage and thanks to his diligence, he was able to find survivors. Survivors are able to give context and help give a name of many long forgotten. It's a remarkable film! Final Score: 9/10

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

greg r

This documentary comes in at just over an hour, and is still about 30 minutes too long.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

11/03/23

Full Review

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Bianca Stigter

Director

Helena Bonham Carter

Narrator

Glenn Kurtz

Self

Maurice Chandler

Self

Bianca Stigter

Writer

Floor Onrust

Producer

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Three Minutes - A Lengthening: Trailer 1

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Rebecca Nicholson

Guardian

It is aware of its limitations and is all the more powerful for it.

Rated: 5/5

Jan 25, 2023

Full Review

Tom Ryan

Sydney Morning Herald

Stigter’s memorable achievement here is not just a lengthening; it’s also a deepening and an emotionally enriching one.

Jan 20, 2023

Full Review

Wendy Ide

Observer (UK)

Part detective procedural, part memorial, its cumulative power is devastating.

Rated: 4/5

Dec 4, 2022

Full Review

Elias Savada

Film International

Not your conventional Holocaust documentary…. Fragments get incessantly replayed, slowed down, reversed, enlarged, and otherwise altered to sniff out clues and provide context, sometimes agonizingly so.

Rated: 4.5/5

Apr 16, 2024

Full Review

Marya E. Gates

Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack)

An essential viewing, especially given the rise of antisemitism in this country at the moment, that celebrates life as much as it does remind us of how tenuous it is.

Feb 12, 2024

Full Review

Morgan Rojas

Cinemacy

Bianca Stigter keeps the memory of the dead alive by preserving the last known artifact of their existence.

Rated: 3.5/5

Jan 28, 2023

Full Review

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Synopsis

Three Minutes - A Lengthening presents a home movie shot by David Kurtz in 1938 in a Jewish town in Poland and tries to postpone its ending. As long as we are watching, history is not over yet. The three minutes of footage, mostly in color, are the only moving images left of the Jewish inhabitants of Nasielsk before the Holocaust. The existing three minutes are examined to unravel the human stories hidden in the celluloid. The footage is imaginatively edited to create a film that lasts more than an hour. Different voices enhance the images. Glenn Kurtz, grandson of David Kurtz, provides his knowledge of the footage. Maurice Chandler, who appears in the film as a boy, shares his memories. Actress Helena Bonham Carter narrates the film essay.

Director: Bianca Stigter
Screenwriter: Bianca Stigter
Distributor: Super LTD
Production Co: Family Affair Films, Doco Digital, Lammas Park
Rating: PG (Thematic Material|The Holocaust)
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 19, 2022, Limited
Box Office (Gross USA): $87.4K
Runtime: 1h 9m

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