ABOUT THE PROJECT
LOGLINE
During conversations over tea, a 103-year-old French-Jewish woman reveals how after helping hundreds evade the Nazis, she became a spy, infiltrating enemy lines to glean intel that helped end WWII.
SYNOPSIS
103 tells the extraordinary tale of Marthe Cohn, a 103-year-old French Jewish woman of diminutive stature who played a giant role in bringing World War II to an end. Intertwining intimate interviews, family photos, archival footage, and animated reenactments, it weaves a remarkable tale of courage that spans a century.
As a young nurse in occupied France, Marthe lives with constant uncertainty while she and her sister Stephanie covertly help hundreds flee the Nazis, directing them to the border of the Free Zone. But after Stephanie is arrested and sent to Auschwitz, Marthe’s remaining family is forced to flee for their lives, and her boyfriend is executed for fighting with the French Resistance, Marthe vows revenge.
Joining the 151st French Infantry Regiment, she is tasked with answering phones for Colonel Fabien, who discovers she is fluent in German. Marthe is immediately launched into intelligence training—memorizing maps, uniforms, codes, armaments and more. There she develops her cover identity: Marthe Ulrich, a German nurse searching for her soldier fiancé. 4’11" and blonde, with a perfect German accent, she makes for a seemingly innocuous covert weapon.
Her first mission is to infiltrate enemy lines and determine German troop strength. After fourteen harrowing attempts to cross the front, unarmed and on foot, Marthe finally crosses into German territory. Assuming her cover identity, she collects information for weeks, ministering to a sick SS officer and questioning troops about their movements, then creeping back across the border to relay information to French Intelligence, risking death in every moment.
After the war, Marthe returns to nursing and never speaks of her intelligence work. In 2002, she discloses her secret in Behind Enemy Lines: The True Story of a French Jewish Spy in Nazi Germany. She still speaks out against intolerance, reminding us how quickly we forget.
PROJECT TYPE Documentary Feature
DIRECTOR Maclovia Martel
PRODUCER Maclovia Martel
WEBSITE Instagram Page