The Mascot            

Director: Lina Caneva
Running Time: 55 minutes    
Australia 2002

Post Screening Discussion with the Writer and Producer


For most of his life, Alex Kurzem harboured a secret. As a five year old Russian orphan in World War Two, he had been found by Latvian soldiers, made their mascot and given a new name and birth date. 

However, Alex was actually a Jew who was being kept alive by those who were exterminating his people.  With his real identity hidden, he became a poster icon for the Nazi ideal and was taken into a Lativian family, who later migrated to Australia. 

This is the story of Alex’s search for his real history and the unexpected impact that it had on his family, community and himself.

Screenings:

28 October 7.30 p.m. Rewley House Cinema
27 October 8.05 p.m. Ozone Multiplex