Concordia-connected film The Spoils now streaming on CBC Gem
Stormy Sea by Martinus Schoumann was restituted in June 2019.
The Spoils, a documentary that examines the global efforts to recover art looted by the Nazis, is now available to stream on CBC Gem.
Directed by Jamie Kastner, the film tells the story of collector and gallery owner Max Stern, who fled Germany in 1937 and later became a leading figure in Montreal’s art world.
Concordia co-presented the film’s Canadian première in October 2024 with the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal. Earlier this year, The Spoils played at TIFF Lightbox and Hot Docs Cinema.
Stern’s legacy continues through the Max Stern Art Restitution Project, co-created in 2002 by Concordia, McGill University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The initiative seeks to identify and recover artworks lost during the Nazi era. Led by Clarence Epstein, a former senior administrator at Concordia, it has been supported by the ground-breaking scholarship of Catherine MacKenzie, a retired Concordia art history professor whose expertise is featured in the film.
By tracing one man’s pursuit of justice, The Spoils sheds light on the moral and legal complexities of art restitution — and on the enduring cultural impact of Stern’s story.