HaSipur HaAcharon shel Kafka

„Dear Max, my last will is: my whole property, i.e. everything on my bookshelves, in my cupboards, in table drawers at home and in my office, that is; diaries, manuscripts, my letters and those of others, drawings and so on, all have to be burnt completely without being read. With regards, Franz Kafka.“ Kafka’s last will was, however, not fulfilled and Max Brod took Kafka’s inheritance with him when he escaped from Nazi Germany. Kafka did not want these items to be published, yet Brod did and in doing so he actually helped Kafka become a literary icon. This documentary traces the movement of manuscripts from Brod to his secretary Esther and then to her daughter, the strange cat-lover Eva Hoffe. The rights to the manuscripts are claimed not only by Hoffe, but also by those responsible for literary archives, who believe that artifacts of such cultural value should be placed in the hands of experts. This documentary therefore also solves the ethical aspects of whether the works of Franz Kafka should be published despite his wanting the opposite, or does the scientific interest in researching the work of one of the most famous authors of the 20th century take precedence? The fate of Kafka’s manuscript resembles his own novels in their absurdity and it is preserved in this distinctive documentary which combines people’s comments with extraordinary graphics. (Academia Film Olomouc)