MENGELE

Jürgen Nemgeel, a replacement history teacher of German decent with a fascination for Nazi Dr. Josef Mengele, decides the best way to teach his Gisborne High School students about this dark time in history is through personal experience and role-play.

Its said that history should be left in the past, but sometimes its repetitive nature proves some wounds will never heal.

A “Counterfeit Collective” FILM
WRITTEN BY Sam Cockerton

In current day, Gisborne, a small New Zealand town of is thrown into a state of flux after the sudden death of Susan Sherwood, a local high school history teacher. With little time to mourn, the school offers the position to Jürgen Nemgeel. A young, highly trained historian of German decent who looks great on paper and the obvious choice.

On entry, he appears to be the ray of sunlight in the storm of hysteria. He settles in to his new role fast and the students take to him pleasingly and respond well to his ‘unconventional’ methods of teaching history though role-play. He picks up where the deceased teacher left off, and continues to focus on the untold secretes of World War Two. His sole class, a mixed group of fifth and sixth form students seem to enjoy the topic, but need more motivation. The class hierarchy and power play is tested right from the start, with a number of students constantly questioning what is being taught.

Nemgeel takes the class on what is thought to be an innocent field trip, but when the bus arrives at a large isolated country shed, things turn sinister. At first everything appears to be fine and the students are enjoying the trip. The events that follow are a history lesson about Nazi Dr. Josef Mengele and his experiments, which will prove to have devastating consequences.