They are a Family UNBROKEN

 

Jeri Jacquin

In theatres from director Beth Lane and Greenwich Entertainment comes the history of a family that refuses to be UNBROKEN.

Beth Lane takes on the story of her family who deals with the struggles of Nazi Germany and how they survived a war-torn Germany. Starting with grandfather Alexander who starts out life in Germany and eventually moves to Hungary where he meets his wife, Lina. They began their life with a difference as Alexander was Catholic and Lina was Jewish but in a bold move, he converts to Judaism.

Moving to Berlin, Lane looks for trails of her grandparents through her Uncle Alfonse’s’ letters providing a vague guide where to look into the family history even more. In Berlin, Lina has her own business repairing stockings. Her daughters Bella and Ruth have their memories of that time in Berlin. They recall wearing the star on their clothing. Soon after, Alexander is arrested and sent to a camp as Lina fought for her husband. World War II has begun and so did the deportations. Lina helped those fleeing and Alexander knew hos dangerous it was for the family.

Then Lina is arrested and as all the children are taken away. Arthur Schmidt, a local grocer and his wife Paula take the children to Worin, Germany and their farm. The children live in fear, hunger and isolation in a very small room. Schmidt tells no one and the Mayor of Worin tells no one of the children’s presence. While this is happening, Alexander renounces his Judaism to be able to work and feel his children while waiting for news of Lina.

Alexander takes the children back to Berlin only to have the family suffer an intense air raid while staying in the Schmidt’s’ basement. When the children are again taken by the Joint Distributions, Alexander pleads with them to stay together. The children experience hardship and more suffering as they arrive in Munich. Spending time at a convent, they are eventually put on the SS Marine Flasher boat but Alexander cannot follow them.

The children arrive in New York and make headlines as the “7 Orphans” (Alfons, Ruth, Senta, Gertrude, Judith, Renee and Bela), making their way to Chicago and the Jewish Children’s Bureau. It is there that the children discover to their shock that they can not keep their word to Alexander. Alexander tries again and again to get to America while the children begin new lives but away from one another. When Alexander does finally arrive, he starts over without the children.

As each of the children grow up, they become part of their new families but there is so much they cannot forget – including each other. In 1986, the children, now adults, finally get together. This is a family that came from love and war but never forgot where they came from and how seven children created a huge family of their own!

Greenwich Entertainment, founded in 2017, is an independent film distribution company specializing in narrative and documentary feature films. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.greenwichentertainment.com.

The film has garnered recognition from the Heartland Int’l Film Festival for Best Documentary Premiere, Audience Choice Best Doc from the Julien Dubuque Int’l Film Festival, Best First Time Filmmaker from the Hot Springs Women’s Int’l Film Festival, Audience Choice Best Doc from the Berkshire Int’l Film Festival, Madelyn’s Choice Award from the Rocky Mountain Women’s Film Festival and Runner Up Audience Choice Best Doc from the Orcas Island Film Festival.

Beth Lane says of her film, “Making UNBROKEN has allowed me to embrace how wholly Jewish I am. And I am very proud of it. My life doesn’t revolve around my Judaism, but this moment in history – this horrible period of antisemitism has brought out the Mama Bear in me that is fierce and ancient. My birth grandfather was tortured by Nazis and then they murdered my birth grandmother. My mother and her siblings barely survived. I had never considered that I was the recipient of intergenerational trauma until I started exploring my mother’s past.”

UNBROKEN is a stunning story of family during a time when their country was falling apart. Surviving day by day through their trauma during way and more trauma being separated for so many years, director Lane follows the painful path and the story that shaped them. It is heart breaking to see how a beautiful beginning based in love becomes the beginnings of trying to survive. The children experienced things no child should ever have to and its almost unthinkable today.

Yet, they managed to find their way back to each other which brings it all full circle back to love. Only the seven children knew the whole of their story and only the seven could relate to each other’s pain and feeling of abandonment coming to a strange new world. The most wonderful part of this documentary is seeing them together to feel safe enough to remember it and share it with Lane. That’s what it takes to talk about such trauma, safety in the presence of those who understand it all from Germany, their parents, living in basically a closet, shuffled to another country and starting over.

In the midst of all that is the one thing that could never be taken from them and that is the blood flowing through their sibling veins and the ache to reconnect. That is such a powerful force and the “7 Orphans” found a way to be together once again. This is an amazing documentary and Lane does her family proud in every way bringing it to the screen for us all to experience.

In the end -  always stay together!

 

RESISTANCE – They Fought Back

Jeri Jacquin

Currently in New York and coming to Los Angeles from directors Paula S. Apsell, Kirk Wolfinger and Abramorama is the stunning documentary RESISTANCE – They Fought Back.

At Christopher Newport University, Newport News, Virginia, Professor Richard Freund, a Jewish Historian, Archaeologist tells of student asking, “why didn’t the Jews resist the Nazis?”. It is 1944 and the Germans are losing the war but the death camps are going strong. It is the voice of Marcel Nadjari, an Auschwitz prisoner says they were taken from Greece to a crematorium. Nadjari was one of the Sonderkommando.

Professor Gideon Greif, a Holocaust Historian referred to the prisoners, and rightly so, of being slaves to the Germans. Nadjari tells of what happened to the people in the chambers keeping the death camps a secret. Nadjari tells his own secret of crematorium 3 and the discovery of nine letters. Buried in a thermos, he describes in detail of the schedule giving historians a perspective of what actually happened.

Pawel Sawicki of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, thought the find incredible. Professor Freund believes that resistance is where the stories begin. He believes that the Jews did not go to their death like sheep to a slaughter but, in fact, they fought back (both armed and unarmed).

The documentary calls BOOK 1: Amidah – Resistance by any other name, and begins in Warsaw, Poland in 1939. As the Germans attack Poland, the war has officially begun. Seventeen-year-old Feige Peltel (codename: Vladka), speaks about when the Germans entered their city. Feige’s father tells them that the Germans are human and is shocked to discover what they are truly capable of. Vladka’s son Steven and wife Rita talk about what the family was told about the Germans. Father Benjamin Meed (and later Vladka’s husband) at the tender age of 21 was part of the Warsaw Ghetto Resistance.

Poland has a large Jewish population and the Germans would make it a prison. Professor Avinoam Patt from New York University, tells of how half a million Jews were forced into a ghetto. Marek Edelman, 21, was also a part of the Warsaw Ghetto Resistance and describes the living conditions forced on the Jewish people. From the small spaces to the amount of food they could eat, the Germans even filmed the death of people as if they were to blame.

The question of “why didn’t they fight back?” is answered by Rita Meed of ‘collective punishment’. If one person did something to fight back, one thousand could be punished for it. Their resistance was more spiritual and taking care of one another. The unarmed resistance is called Amidah explains Professor Dina Porat, Yad Vashem/Tel Aviv University. It means ‘stand up’ – meaning they will not give in to what is happening. Professor Yehuda Bauer of Yad Vashem/Hebrew University expands the definition as to “sit, stand, lie, or swim or stand up – it makes absolutely no difference – it is Amidah.”

Benjamin Meed took it upon himself to start a school because, as Professor Bauer says, “educating the young for after the war was against the Germans way”. Rabbi Michael Schudrich, Chief Rabbi of Poland says, “the Germans wanted to undermine the humanity of the individual”. Germans wanted to show beggars and such to propagate their agenda. To keep their humanity together, people like Emanuel Ringelblum (codename: Oyneg Shabes) is going to make sure that it doesn’t happen by documenting life in the ghetto by becoming the Leader of Oyneg Shabes Archive. They documented life in the Warsaw ghetto, sealed it and buried it. David Graber, 19, buried the archive in the ground saying, “let history bear witness”.

Poland waits for the occupation to end not realizing that the goal of the Nazis is extermination. In Kovno, Lithuania, it is happening. A ghetto has sprung up and an underground resistance takes shape with more schools and an orchestra. At Fort IX in Kaunas/Kovno, Lithuania, Jews are disappearing. Paul Bauman, BGC Engineering Inc., talk of how people now do not know that 50,000 Jews died in this wide-open spot. Bauman’s team of engineers is trying to locate the death trenches. Ilya Lensky of the Jews in Latvia Museum says that no one could have believed what happened could happen. Professor Harry Jol, University of Wisconsin – EAU Claire, says what is important that stories are believed and they are here to verify stories.

The parents of the children of Kovno tried to save them. Professor Patrick Henry of Whitman College Emeritus says that only 11% of Jewish children survived to 1945. One such survivor is Dana Mazurkevich, Violinist, who’s parents found a way to smuggle her to safety as a small baby. She saw her parents doing so as a huge act of resistance.

In Vilnius Lithuania, also called Vilna, was considered the most Jewish city in the world as Professor David Fishman, from the Jewish Theological Seminary, explains. Samuel Bak, an artist, was a ghetto survivor from Vilna who saw his home as a center of learning and spirituality. The Germans arrived, attacking in 1941 and became overwhelmed with all things Jewish so they created The Paper Brigade to go through everything. Hadas Kalderon, granddaughter of the Yiddish Poet Avrom Sutzkever said the Germans wanted to make a Jewish Museum without Jewish people. Her grandfather was chosen to select the materials but instead, they spent time rescuing books and papers. What they could get through, they made a library and seen as a form of resistance.

Michael Kovner, son of Abba and Vitka Kempner-Kovner, is a painter like his father. The youth movement became important for the young. Two-thirds of the 70,000 population of Vilna were killed in the first six months of German occupation. In the Ponari Forest outside of Vilna are burial pits holding over 100,000 people. In 1941, Lovner calls out for the Jews to fight back knowing that once out of the gates, people will not come back. They are about to get help from a Finnish book. Now, Vilna has one goal – armed uprising.

But they were not the only ones preparing!

Also included, Professor Michael Berenbaum (American Jewish University), Margers Vestermanis (Historian, Riga Ghetto Survivor), Professor Yoel Yaari (Son of Bela Hazan), Lior Inbar (Ghetto Fighters’ House Museum), Professor Avinoam Patt (New York University), Professor Havi Dreifuss (Yad Vashem/Tel Aviv University), Michael Mackiewicz (Polish Army Museum), Mordecai Anielewicz (Commander, Warsaw Ghetto Uprising), Krystina Budnicka (Warsaw Ghetto Survivor), Svetlana Shtarkman (Historian/Tour Guide), Yonat Rotbain (Daughter of Ruzka Korchak), Michael Kagan (Son of Jack Kagan, Survivor), Chaim Melcer (Sobibor), Tomaz Oleksy-Zborowoski (Museum and Memorial in Sobibor), Esther Raab (Sobibor Resistance survivor), Alexander Pechersky (Soviet POW), Leon Felhendler (Son of a Rabbi), David Gur (Budapest Resistance Fighter), Professor Steven Bowman (University of Cincinnati Emeritus), Leon Cohen (Sonderkommando Prisoner), Eliezer Eisenschmidt (Sonderkommando Prisoner), and Ronnen Harran (Son of Ada Neufeld, Survivor).

Abramorama is the preeminent global theatrical distributions and rights partner for many documentary and music films and is recognized for the consistent high quality of its work on award winning features. Over the course of 20 years, Abramorama has successfully distributed and marketed hundreds of films including Ron Howard’s Grammy Award Winning THE BEATLES: EIGHT DAYS A WEEK, Stanley Nelson’s MILES DAVIS: BIRTH OF THE COOL, as well as Academy Award Nominee and IDA Best Documentary Winner THE LOOK OF SILENCE. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.abramorama.com.

RESISTANCE – They Fought Back was the Official Selection of the 2023 Santa Barbara International Film Festival - Award Winner, Official Selection of the 2023 LA Indies – Award Winner, Official Selection of the 2023 Toronto Documentary Feature & Short Film Festival – Award Winner for Best Feature and Official Selection for the Boston Jewish Film Festival.

Filmed in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Israel and the United States, this film corrects the Jewish passivity myth. Eastern Europe held wide campaigns of resistance against the Nazis. This is a stunning documentary filled with stories that were never told in school or college. The documentary should now be considered a tool for teaching the truth about the Jewish Resistance. The question should never again be “why didn’t they fight the Nazis” but instead “tell us the story of the Jewish Resistance”.

I was moved beyond reason through the entire hour and a half of storytelling. It is intense, frightening, immensely sad but at the same time fascinating because of the stories being shared. Especially with the conflicts now, this documentary shares what it means to resist and on how many levels that applies to the Jewish people. Filmed in three “books”, it shows the heart of the Jewish people and the importance of never forgetting what happened so that it will never happen again. Yes, that phrase is said again and again but with this documentary, it has a whole new meaning.

In the end – you were taught they went like sheep to the slaughter, you were taught a Nazi lie!

PORTRAIT OF THE QUEEN

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to Digital from director and award-winning photographer Fabrizio Ferri and VMI Worldwide is a look at one of the most photographed women with PORTRAIT OF THE QUEEN.

This documentary, narrated by Charles Dance, looks at the life of an iconic queen and her legacy. This is a perspective on how she came to be so visually represented throughout her long and memorable reign. Referred to as a stable for in the lives of millions, people from all over the world have been affected by her presence. Her decades long presence in the life of her own subjects, they share their true feelings for the monarch.

But her pictures have always stood out beginning with the most prestigious with her first royal portrait after becoming queen. Equally stunning are photographs of the crowds on that very same day and the pride felt in their royal traditions.

Emma Blau, photographic artist and curator/co-owner of Camera Press, has a dedicated archive of the Queen. Photographers do their best to be original in their portrayal of her majesty. Blau makes her case in how photographing the queen from the first has brought about so many changes in the way a portrait is done.

John Swannell is one of the photographers of the Queen and recalls his encounter as the second big occasion to photograph the new queen was her wedding to Prince Phillip. Brian Aris was invited by the palace to do royal photographs as well. Meeting and photographing the Queen became quite a nervous experience, as one would expect.

Even Canadian singer and performer Brian Adams took photos of the Queen in 2004. What came of it is that one of his photos became the center of a Canadian postage stamp and her majesty loved it.

Pierpaolo Piccioli, creative director of Valentino, believes the Queen’s expressiveness spoke louder than words. Her clothing does the same thing and shows through photographs. Vivid colors and pastels become a staple of photographing the Queen.

Photographer Julian Calder speaks about the lasting images of the photographs taken at Balmoral. His photos of the queen near a river in her robes creates stunning and images that are unique and timeless.

Having informal photographs of the Queen, it shows a different aspect and perspective of her life. Photos with her children, family, husband and her beloved corgis brings about a sense of relatability to those who view them.

David Montgomery came to England in the 1960s and stays busy with his work. Getting his chance to photograph the queen, at first, he declines. After speaking with his wife, he agrees to take the pictures. He begins his work photographing the queen at Balmoral in Scotland in, what would be considered, a relaxed atmosphere. Fireside, corgis and her beloved horses all become prominent in these photographs. It is an amazing experience that he holds very dear.

Jason Bell is the photographer at the 2013 christening of her great-grandson Prince George. Bell did his research of previous portraits of the royal family. He gets to observe the family life of the royals as they come together for the photograph.

Chris Levine, an artist, uses light and laser to create his art. The queen sat for a holographic portrait. Explaining the process in detail is complicated, yet at one point Levine feels someone behind him and it is the queen herself. As an avid photographer herself, her interest in what is happening becomes very clear.

The queen has represented so much to the people and the biggest word to describe feelings is – respect. England is a complicated country, as most countries are, but the feelings toward the queen are clear, she is a beloved monarch.

Even after her death, this documentary is a beautiful, stunning and colorful reminder of a woman who spent her life in service, caring for a family and became an unwavering symbol during times of distress as well as joy.

Other voices in the documentary are Isabella Rossellini and Susan Sarandon.

VMI Productions started off with BLOOD OF REDEMPTION, starring Dolph Lundgren and Vinnie Jones (2012), and WICKED BLOOD, starring Sean Bean, Abigail Breslin, and James Purefoy (2014), which were both distributed and co-produced by Entertainment One in North America. VMI’s third film, WAR PIGS, starring Mickey Rourke and Luke Goss (2015), was released theatrically by Cinedigm in the US as part of a multi-picture output deal with Cinedigm for North American distribution for in-house productions. For more information, please visit http://www.vmiworldwide.com/

As a result of this evolution, VMI possesses the ability and desire to board the right project, at any stage of development, and is capable of attaching cast and/or financing as well as finding the right distribution partners for a film. VMI seeks to establish long-term working relationships with its production partners.

PORTRAIT OF THE QUEEN is a stunning look through photography and those who created the images, the life of England’s monarch. Charles Dance is a voice worth listening to in every performance he has done but more so throughout this documentary. He reads diaries, stories and ideas on photography of those who had the honor of photographing her majesty.

Director Ferri says, “Elisabeth II has, over the years, worked with great photographers from whom she has commissioned the portraits used to build, communicate and manage her image. Paola Calvetti, author of the book Elisabetta II. Ritratto di Regina, asked me to direct and do the photography for the film PORTRAIT OF THE QUEEN written by her. Paola’s intuition to take an unprecedented point of view and make a film about the collaboration between Queen Elizabeth II and the great photographers in compelling and winning. I started working on it with care and attention and began imagining a point of view that was also unprecedented in order to turn the book into a film.”

I enjoyed having Dance read and narrate the documentary as well as perspectives from Rossellini and Sarandon on their feelings towards not only being photographed but meeting the Queen. Each photographer brings something wonderful to this story and its telling of an icon while being in her presence. Each of them seems to tell of her interest in what they were doing and, having an opinion on their artistry.

For myself, I have always admired Queen Elizabeth II as a strong figure and personable in her own gracious way. From deaths, wars, family tragedy, political struggles, and the change in times – she made her own way through each. I never once saw in photographs or reels any sign of a woman overcome but it all. Instead, I saw a woman who showed how to make it through it all.

Of course, that is the image the palace wanted but it does not mean it wasn’t who she was and I’d prefer to believe that her gift was just that – a woman of strength and dignity who just happened to also wear a crown.

 

THE PRINCESS

 

Jeri Jacquin

Currently streaming on HBO and director Ed Perkins is the story of the woman we all know as THE PRINCESS.

Slightly faded in memory of most unless you are English, especially with all the ruckus Prince Harry and wife have caused in recent years, THE PRINCESS is a reminder of the late Princess Diana Spencer. Told through pictures and archival footage, it begins with the excitement surrounding young Diana as she becomes engaged to the most eligible bachelor of the day – Prince Charles.

Their early interviews show a sweet Diana with Charles as they answer questions about what their hopes are for their upcoming marriage. Charles seems to be the one in charge and Diana stays true to her man!

The wedding is the event of a generation with all the glamor and spectacle one would expect in a Hollywood production. Diana looked ravishing and the people of England could not have been happier with something wonderful to celebrate. Some time later, Prince William is born bringing more happiness to the country followed by Prince Harry.

But behind closed doors, Princess Diana is struggling with unspoken rumors of infidelity by Prince Charles with his former mistress Camilla Parker-Bowles. Now the media becomes involved as he goes on the defensive with family issues and secrets. Princess Diana finds ways to spend her time with charities for AIDS, homelessness and land mines.

Prince Charles and Princess Diana finally given their release papers from one another after she gives her own television interview that shocks the country, the books and newspapers do not let up. Charles goes his way and Princess Diana agrees to drop the HRH from her title, is given a settlement and walks away with her two sons.

Life becomes different but not any less media worthy as Princess Diana is constantly being followed, not by one or two photographers but dozens and dozens. Trying to have time with her boys without the paparazzi becomes impossible.

Being seen with other men also causes a fervor for the tabloids and when she is seen with Dodi Al Fayed. He is an Egyptian film producer but more so is that he is the son of billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed. Seen boarding planes and vacationing on fabulous yachts, readers of the papers cannot get enough.

That is until August 31, 1997, in Paris, France as Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed try to escape a barrage of paparazzi into a tunnel and never coming out the other side. Instead, a crash that takes the life of Al Fayed and Princess Diana. Now the world knows, and the shock reverberates everywhere.

The funeral is one that takes over as the world, the same as witnessed the wedding 1981. The emotion was everywhere in the people but less so with the royal family. Keeping a “stiff upper lip”, Charles brings Princess Diana home as her brother Earl Spencer, Prince Charles, Prince William, Prince Harry and Prince Phillip walk behind her casket.

HBO Home Entertainment brings critically acclaimed and groundbreaking programming throughout the world. Releases include the global hit Game of Thrones, True Detective, Girls, The Sopranos, Sex and the City, True Blood, The Wire and Entourage. The company's catalog contains hundreds of titles including Big Little Lies and Band of Brothers. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.hbo.com.

As the 25^th anniversary of Princess Diana’s death approaches, director Perkins does not interview anyone but instead, lets the photographs and footage speak instead. What makes the documentary so revealing in a way is that the world knows more about her struggle with bulimia, depression, the emotional abuse and the monarchy that dug in its heels to a changing time.

Princess Diana did the one thing that had not been done since Queen Elizabeth became the reigning monarch, she captivated the world with every move she made. Not always a good thing for Diana but she was beginning to make head way into a life of her own when she died.

It is important to remember the work that she did for her country and around the world because it is the work that continues today. Her boys have grown up and found happiness in the way that suites them the best, even if the world does not always agree with the choices.

That being said, PRINCESS DIANA tells its own story, and we have the chance to remember, once again, that she may have been complicated but she was still, after all, the People’s Princess.

 

 

 

 

 

TAKE ME HOME HUEY Tells the Story of Healing

Jeri Jacquin

The opening film at MOPA in Balboa Park in San Diego this week at the GI Film Festival from directors Alicia Brauns, Christine Steele, PBS SoCal and Light Horse Legacy is the documentary TAKE ME HOME HUEY.

In 1969, a medivac helicopter known as Huey #174 was shot down in Binh Long province of Vietnam killing two crew members. In 2013, Dave Barron rescued the helicopter and artist Steve Maloney decides to make it a healing work of art. Beginning with restoring the weakened metal, people began coming in to be a part of the restoration. That led to the task of finding out about the crew that flew Huey #174 and what happened to them since the crash.

Artist Steve Maloney literally came on board taking Huey #174 from damaged piece of metal to a way for those who survived the crash and the families of the two crew who died to help heal. Each of the crew came to see Huey #174 but it didn't happen easily. They had to consider what they went through as young men and what they are still going through to this very day. Each man admitting that they were struggling with PTSD.

PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is defined as 'a mental health problem that some people develop after experiencing or witnessing a life-threatening event, like combat, a natural disaster, a car accident or sexual assault'. Veterans from every war has brought home soldiers that had a difficult time fitting back into the lives they left behind. Not speaking about their experiences brought about drug use, alcoholism, inability to handle family life and so much more.

As each of the men came to see their helicopter, the sense of panic slowly faded away watching their craft come to life in a unique way. Maloney covered the craft with imagery that the men clearly understood, and paid homage to the two crew that did not come home. Inside the helicopter in the installation of art Maloney created from the original parts from wires to instruments. Also inside is a time capsule installed that offered an opportunity for each to put in something in that brought their experience with their reimagined helicopter back in a way that brought them something indescribable.

Karl Renz, Paul Battaglia, Jerry McNelly and Steve Maloney were on hand when the lights came on in the theater to a round of applause. Each person in the room was clearly moved by the story and thrilled to have the opportunity to hear directly from these men who have made a greater impact for veterans. To learn more about the film please visit www.takemehomehuey.org.

The GI Film Festival San Diego opened with TAKE ME HOME HUEY laying the course for the rest of the films that will be showing until Sunday. Until Friday, the films will be at MOPA (Museum of Photographic Arts) in Balboa Park and for Saturday and Sunday the films will be at UltraStar Cinemas at Hazard Center.

For the schedule please visit www.gifilmfestivalsd.org. 

LOVE, ANTOSHA Brings Heavy Emotion for the Young Actor

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to theatres from director/producer Garrett Price and Lurker Productions is a documentary on the life of Anton Yelchin with LOVE, ANTOSHA.

Best known for his role as the young Chekov in the STAR TREK films, Anton Yelchin wasn't a new comer to films. Not at all, in fact his career began at a young age beginning in 2000 with a role in the television series ER. I remember that episode clearly and Yelchin plays young boy Robbie who loses his parents.

From the moment Yelchin is on screen, there is something amazing in his eyes that says 'get ready to break out the kleenex everyone' which I did. But this wouldn't be the only time this actor would move me.

In 2001 in the film HEARTS IN ATLANTIS, he once again tests every emotion possible. Curb Your Enthusiasm in 2004 would show us another side of Yelchin with scenes that were pure brilliance. 

HOUSE OF D that same year from writer/director David Duchovny cements Yelchin as an actor beyond words. Next came ALPHA DOG and CHARLIE BARTLETT along side Robin Williams followed by THE BEAVER with Jodie Foster.

In between Hollywood roles, Yelchin made it clear he wanted to make the un-Hollywood type films. Those around him saw that he needed to stretch and explore different characters in different ways.

When STAR TREK came, viewers thought that this was a newcomer to Hollywood. They embraced the young Chekov and now I can even imagine anyone doing the role. Yelchin met Walter Koenig, Chekov from the original 60s STAR TREK and it is easy to see from this documentary that he wanted to please Koenig.

But there was so much more to this talented and sensitive actor. The only son of immigrant Russian parents, Yelchin showed at a very early age that he was fascinated with films and music. He grew with each and every opportunity and influenced by each person he met.

That is what makes this documentary so absolutely fantastic. It starts with his family talking about where they came from and how they raised their son. Then his close friends talk about the time they spent together and how they always did things nutty (as guys tend to do).

The most surprising part of this documentary is the amount of people that actually knew Yelchin and by this I mean Kristen Stewart, Jennifer Lawrence, Martin Landau for starters. There are funny stories told by Chris Pine and Simon Pegg about Yelchin's need to photograph the unusualness he would find just walking down the street.

The most moving part of this documentary are the notes that Antosha left for his family to constantly remind them of his love. The raw notes he would write to himself are read by Nicholas Cage who happened to be Yelchin's favorite actor.

What a rare few knew was that Yelchin suffered from Cystic Fibrosis and, as with everything this young man did, he did not use CF as an excuse to not push himself. Instead he did what was necessary and jumped into his life fray with every bit of heart and soul he had.

June 19, 2016, the world would lose Yelchin in what would seem the most senseless way. A preventable accident would take him away from the world that so embraced his talent.

In the sadness of this we have to remember one thing, this young actor left behind 69 films and that is stunning. I have seen many of his films but after seeing this documentary, I want to see each and every film he made!

The film brings J.J. Abrams, Sofia Boutella, John Cho, Ian Cripps, Marlon Clark, Willem Dafoe, Joe Dante, Paul David, Ryan Dean, Drake Doremus, Ben Foster, Jodie Foster, Cxraif Gillespie, Dave Glowacki, Bryce Dallas Howard, Nick Jones, Avy Kaufman, Frank Langella, Mary Lester, Mark Palansky, Jon Poll, Zachary Quinto, Parush Rao, Zoe Saldana, Luke Shaft, Sophie Simpson, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jon Voight, and Richard Wicklund out to talk about their feelings and some of it will bring a tear and a lot will bring laughs.

Having amazing access to his journals, writings, home movies, photographs, artwork and music - there doesn't seem to be a stone left unturned to share with the viewer. That is what makes this documentary so very special - its honesty to both the light and dark of his life.

We should all have such amazing friends that would want the world to know who we are, how we are and everything in between in such a way as Price has put together in LOVE, ANTOSHA.

In the end - he was so much more and now we know just how much more!

SURVIVING BIRKENAU: The Dr. Susan Spatz Story

Jeri Jacquin

On DVD from Ron Small, the Holocaust Education Film Foundation and Dreamscape comes the story of the ultimate survivor with SURVIVING BIRKENAU: The Dr. Susan Spatz Story.

Dr. Spatz is a woman who has no problem telling her story exactly how it is. Born in Vienna, her parents moved to Berlin, Germany to work in their uncles’ greeting card company. The business was very successful and the family lived well. She recalls her father being a man who loved to dance and mother a woman who was always impeccably dressed.

In 1935, Jewish students had to leave state schools and she didn’t quite understand what was happening. In 1938, Hitler had taken control of their home country of Vienna, Austria. That is also when she noticed that Nazi soldiers were beginning to harass Jewish men and women in hideous ways.

That is when Susan’s father had to find a way out because visas were not to be had. In August 1939, her father left on the last plane to Brussels to settle while Susan and her mother waited. A town was created called Theresienstadt Bauschowitz and two months later it was inhabited by Jews. That was the beginning of the Jewish Council that became part of a selection committee which had one of her mothers’ friends there to help.

Once they learned that it wouldn’t help, Susan’s mother left and the young 19 year old girl stayed behind. In 1943 she was to be transferred by train through the large gates of what was to become Birkenau. Immediately everyone that arrived were processed, given clothing and tattooed. Her number is 34042.

Food was scarce and lessons of being in the prison camp were every moment of their lives. The women prison guards, according to Susan, were worse than the male guards so they had to find solace with one another. Fate would come into play as she came into contact with a young girl she knew in Prague. That encounter helped her get to the administration offices and the construction department.

By 1944, Susan is sent on the Death March and the only thing that saved her was after being told quietly to load up on clothing and food or else they would not survive. Finally put on a train, they were once again told to huddle together and they would make it. She would see that others trains with people who froze in their train cars.

Staying alive they were finally liberated and when they came to an American checkpoint, the realization that the world didn’t know about extermination camps. Susan was finally free but where would she be able to go?

Speaking English would be another life saver for Susan as she was asked to work with the Americans. Through that she would learn the fate of her family and began the long road to finding a life of her own. She discovered her freedom, her voice and a new purpose for her life.

Established in 2018, the Holocaust Education Film Foundation was started to build an international, interactive online community one Holocaust Survivor story at a time. Through full-length documentaries, distributed globally through numerous platforms, the online site and educational programs, the 501c3 foundation seeks to ensure that we will never forget. For more information please visit https://www.hef.northwestern.edu.

Dr. Susan Spatz has such an amazing story to tell and I absolutely was riveted to hear every moment of it. There is a steadiness or perhaps defiance in her voice that would not allow her to give in to her captors. There is nothing wrong with doing everything humanly possible to survive and Susan makes that clear by the choices she made in her three years in Birkenau.

It would be in her life after years in the concentration camp that seems so much more difficult. Susan even says that she was more afraid after Birkenau with what life was bringing her way but even before that part of her story was told I knew she would let nothing stop her from being free once again.

In the end – it is her story of survival during humanity’s darkest moments!

ELLA BRENNAN: Commanding the Table is a Delicious Documentary

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to Netflix on May 1^st from filmmaker Leslie Iwerks and Iwerks & Co. with theatrical release in May comes the intriguing story of ELLA BRENNAN: Commanding the Table.

Ella Brennan has made more than a name for herself as a legendary restaurateur but is a pioneer of what is now considered a food movement. After high school in New Orleans, her brother Owen wanted to open a business that would take care of her parents. In 1933, Owen hires piano player Fats Pichon plays in their club and it is a success!

At the age of 20, Ella along with sister Adelaide take on opening a restaurant. Trying to find their niche among famous places on Bourbon Street, Ella teaches herself the business. Creating Breakfast at Brennan’s comes from her European learning trip and brother Owen wants an original dessert on their menu as well. The creation of Bananas Foster became a hit then and is still a hit today!

Brennan’s becomes a rising restaurant and Ella a rising star that is noticed by editors and food critics. the Brennan’s opened a restaurant on Bourbon Street. Food Editor Helen McCully would take Ella to New York where she meets Julia Childs, Jacques Peppin and James Beard (yes, that James Beard).

The passing of Owen and the lease on Bourbon Street property is up but Brennan’s begins again at a new location. The patrons followed eagerly with a party that Ella says, “lasted a month easily”. Never an empty table, Brennan’s continues to be successful on Royal Street in New Orleans.

The restaurant keeps her busy but Ella meets Paul, they marry and start a family with son Alex and then daughter Ti. Keeping life surrounded by family, members recall having get together’s that always included delicious food. Their marriage unfortunately leads to divorce because of Paul’s problem with drinking.

After a shocking family takeover, Ella walks away from Brennan’s Restaurant and buys a place called Commander’s Palace Restaurant and once again starts from scratch. Beginning with an idea from brother Dick, she creates a Garden District Jazz Brunch. It was instantly a smashing success!

Wanting her patrons to have an experience, Ella creates just that with crowds taking over on Saturdays and Sundays. Surrounded by celebrities of all types there were write ups constantly. Moving in with sister Adelaide, they both continued fancy and dressy party’s at their home.

Paul Prudhomme became an Executive Chef at Commander’s Palace creating menu’s with Ella that include Cajun Crusine and flavors New Orleans hadn’t brought before. A line of amazing chefs came through Ella’s kitchen from Jeremiah Tower, Danny Meyer, Emeril Lagasse, Jamie Shannon just to name a few. Each chef that came through continued to pave the way for amazing cuisine and continued success for Commander’s Palace.

When Hurricane Katrina came through New Orleans, Ella once again is faced with picking up the pieces by gutting Commander’s Palace. Committed to rebuilding, Ella says, “it breaks your heart to know what people went through in this city. This was no longer survival of yourself but survival of the city we all live in”.

Not only did she rebuild Commander’s Palace, she helped local owner Dooky Chase rebuild her restaurant as well. Reopening thirteen months after Hurricane Katrina, they were back!

This is a family business as Ella and Dottie move into the home right next to the restaurant to be close to it all. The dedication of this woman named Ella and the Brennan family has continued to bringing the dining experience to generation after generation and I personally have Commander’s Palace on my bucket list!

Director Leslie Iwerks is an Oscar and Emmy nominated filmmaker who has brought Oscar and Tony nominated actress Patricia Clarkson on board to narrate this amazing story. Choosing Ella Brennan, family and their love of the restaurant business as a subject for her documentary is wonderful perfection.

ELLA BRENNAN: Commanding the Table has been the Official Selection for the 2017 Dallas International Film Festival, Audience Award at the New Orleans Film Festival, Official Selection of the: 34 Miami Film Festival, Houston Cinema Arts Festival, Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Tiburon International Film Festival, Annapolis Film Festival, Vermont International Film Festival, San Luis Obispo International Film Festival, Mill Valley Film Festival and the Boulder International Film Festival.

The story is told from Ella herself along with family, friends, critics and the chefs that were a part of her kitchen which bring such a personal aspect that I was enthralled watching every moment.

A admitted “foodie”, I am fascinated by the creative process of chefs, food and restaurants décor and how they are run. Ella Brennan was a name I had heard before so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to see this documentary. I had no idea that I was in for a delicious treat with not only the food but the history of this amazing woman who created something spectacular.

ELLA BRENNAN: Commanding the Table is a must-see for everyone, whether you are a foodie or not. This documentary is a history of a family who understood and continues to understand their city and patrons. Constantly reinventing itself, Commander’s Palace has a woman at its helm who believes in what she does – and it shows. Brava Ella Brennan!

In the end – she brought grace, elegance and good taste to the nation’s culinary map!