Sky and Peacock debuted the teaser trailer for the upcoming original series “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” on Thursday.
The six-part limited drama series, based on the international bestselling novel by Heather Morris, stars Melanie Lynskey and Harvey Keitel and lands on streaming May 2.
Based on the true story of Lali (Jonah Hauer-King) and Gita Sokolov (Anna Próchniak), who met while imprisoned in the Auschwitz concentration camp during the Holocaust and World War II, the series is directed by Tali Shalom-Ezer.
“Do you want to write this down?” Keitel’s 80-year-old Lali asks Melanie Lynskey’s Morris, who responds with the words, “I think I’d just like to listen.”
Keitel then launches into Lali’s story and memories of 60 years ago. Aspiring writer Morris listens to the recently widowed Lali as he recounts his past, confronts the trauma of his youth and relives his experience of falling in love in a dark place. In 1942, Lali, a Slovakian Jew, was deported to Auschwitz where over one million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust.
“I was a young man in a terrible place. This is what it was every day,” Keitel’s character says over a shot of a bloody identification number tattoo given to a Jewish prisoner. “I found something there. Someone.”
Shortly after he arrives, Lali becomes a Tätowierer, a tattooist forced to ink identification numbers onto fellow prisoners’ arms. He then meets Gita when he gives her a tattoo, and they kindle a flame that outshines the horrors of the concentration camp. Gita and Lali vow to keep each other alive under the wrath of volatile Nazi SS officer Stefan Baretzki (Jonas Nay).
The trailer features snippets of the original score written for the show by Academy Award-winning composer Hans Zimmer and Kara Talve, who also composed the soundtrack for the series.
“The Tattooist of Auschwitz” is executive produced by Claire Mundell through her company Synchronicity Films and is produced in association with Sky Studios and All3Media International. The series is a co-production from Sky and Peacock. Jacquelin Perske is Executive Producer and lead writer for “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” alongside episode writers Evan Placey (Associate Producer) and Gabbie Asher. Serena Thompson is Executive Producer for Sky Studios.
