Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe

Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, New York, Petrópolis: stages in the life of Stefan Zweig that could not replace his home country despite a hospitable reception and great recognition. The Jewish-Austrian writer and pacifist who foresaw Europe's decline at an early stage left his native country in 1934. He was never to return from exile. The film describes episodes from Zweig's years in North and South America: his first stay in Brazil, his participation in the P.E.N. Congress in Buenos Aires in 1936, his visit to New York in 1941 and his death in Petrópolis in the following year. This is where Zweig wrote his probably most famous work: The Royal Game. (Locarno Festival)