“I was following my intuition,” German film director/producer Christa Pfafferott said as she spoke to a large audience at the Majestic Theatre Sunday afternoon. They were gathered to view her film “Die Ecke” (The Corner) which delves into the death of an American soldier, Robert Wynne from Texas, killed in action as his division moved into the German village of Oberdorla during the end phase of World War II.
Director Pfafferott learned about this incident after seeing a photo taken of him lying lifeless on the street while other infantrymen took cover from possible enemy fire. The photo, taken by a war news correspondent at the time, was known by many. However, a Swedish woman saw it and felt it should be colored, which she proceeded with and then posted it to the internet where it “went viral”.
Pfafferott felt this was a story that needed to be told. Her filming took her to the village of Oberdorla, and to the exact corner on Sperlinsbergstrasse (the street) where the photo was taken. Memories and opinions of those living there begin to take shape. Especially moving, I felt, were the memories of an elderly lady who had seen the fallen soldier lying on the street when she was a five year old girl. Her mother had lifted a tarp covering him she said, and this moment, along with other sad events in her own family, became an un-erasable memory for her.
