New Israeli-Directed Comedic Drama ‘My Neighbor Adolf’ Set to Start Production

Shiryn Ghermezian

Actor Udo Kier. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

A new film, titled “My Neighbor Adolf” is set to begin filming in Medellin, Colombia, later in this month, Variety reported last week.

The comedic drama is about a “lonely and grumpy” Holocaust survivor, living in Colombia’s countryside, who suspects that his new neighbor is the leader of the Nazi party, according to the publication. He goes on a mission to find out the truth and discovers that the only way to prove his theory is by befriending his neighbor.

David Hayman, known for his role in the Holocaust movie “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas,” will star as the Holocaust survivor, and Udo Kier of “Armageddon” and “Blade” fame will take on the role of his neighbor. Israel’s 2-Team Productions, Poland’s Film Produkcja and Vandalo Colombia are partnering on the film, with Israeli director Leon Prudovsky directing from a screenplay he wrote with Dmitry Malinsky.

Prudovsky told Variety: “‘My Neighbor, Adolf’ is a comedy, because a Holocaust survivor, who believes his new neighbor is Hitler, is comic. Because an old man obsessively conducting an absurd investigation is comic. But then again, the story is more of a tragedy. Because loneliness is tragic. Because demonizing your neighbor is tragic. Because not being able to put the traumatic past behind you is tragic.”

He added, “And this is almost a thriller, though the real dramatic question of the film is not about the new neighbor’s true identity, but whether the two lonely old men can overcome their prejudices and suspicions and build a friendship based on their common humanity.”

“My Neighbor Adolf” follows the success of “Jojo Rabbit,” a movie about a German boy in Hitler’s army whose imaginary friend is the Nazi leader himself. The movie received six Oscar nominations, including the coveted Best Picture, as well as Best Screenplay for Taika Waititi, the film’s director who also plays Hitler in it.