A dazzling political thriller from the producers of Run Lola Run, Dani Levy's (Go for Zucker) 1998 breakout film, The Giraffe, has become a classic on the Jewish film festival circuit. Set in 1990s New York and Germany, it weaves together events 50 years apart. An elderly Jewish woman is found dead in a New York hotel. Her son, David, a streetwise garment trader from Brooklyn, meets a young set designer, Lena Katz, who appears to be involved in the circumstances of his mother's death. In the course of their investigation, a mutual attraction grows, but the suspicions of David's lawyer, Kaminski, lead directly to Lena's family in Germany threatening to undermine their blossoming relationship. Torn between their emotions and family loyalties, David and Lena finally uncover a crime that tragically links their families. Originally released in Europe with the German title Meschugge (Yiddish for ‘senseless' or ‘crazy'), The Giraffe received its Australian première at the 1999 Festival of Jewish Cinema. It stars Maria Schrader and David Strathairn.