In 2018, behind the walls of a Prague home, over 700 paintings were found. Hidden. Preserved. Signed by Gertrud Kauders—a Jewish painter, feminist, and quiet witness to history.

For decades, her name was nearly forgotten. Then the works surfaced. And with them, a slow unearthing—by friends, curators, and the Kauders-During family in Aotearoa, New Zealand, who had long held just a handful of drawings, a few stories, and a quiet sense that something had been left behind.

It began with Simon, who recognised the significance of the discovery. And it continued with the steady care of his siblings—especially Miriam, who spent her final years ensuring Gertrud’s work was returned, remembered, and placed in the national collection.

Mum, a longtime friend of Miriam’s, felt called to tell the story. This film is her way of honoring both women: Gertrud, whose work outlasted erasure; and Miriam, whose conviction helped bring it back into the light.

This project is a series of questions, fragments, flickers. A tracing of art as memory. A portrait of what endures when the world tries to forget. An act of intimacy, and quiet resistance.

We’ve written a teaser, built the site, and begun the slow, careful work of shaping the story.

This is a film about what still speaks—if we choose to listen.

DOCUMENTARY IN DEVELOPMENT

I came on board early to help give this film its first container — a way to hold the story so others could step inside it. Working with Clare O’Leary (Director, and my Mum), I’ve been helping shape the narrative spine, distill the themes, and craft language that could carry both historical gravity and contemporary resonance.

This meant writing the teaser script, producing the video, guiding the website’s creative direction and development, and developing the film’s first public identity so it could begin building trust with museums, funders, and future collaborators.

It’s work rooted in care: making sure that when Gertrud’s voice — silenced for decades — is heard again, it’s heard clearly.