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!

 

JUNIPER

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to theatres from director Matthew J. Saville and Greenwich Entertainment comes the story of connection with JUNIPER.

Trouble teenager Sam (George Ferrier) is coming home from boarding school to his home in New Zealand. Dad Robert (Marton Csokas) lets him know that grandmother Ruth (Charlotte Rampling) is staying with them. Sam is not happy when he realizes that she is staying in the room where his mother passed away.

Robert also tells Sam that he must return to England to handle some issues for his mother. That means Sam will have to be available to help if Ruth needs it and help Sarah (Edith Poor), Ruth’s nurse. Now the young man is fuming and makes it clear that he will help her but wants nothing else to do with her.

Ruth tests Sam’s patience over and over again with her relentless requests. As each day passes, he realizes he does not know much about his grandmother and Sarah can help with that. Ruth gets to learn a little about her grandson as well and manages to get his friends to help with the garden.

Spending time together, Ruth, Sam and Sarah form a connection that gives him a look into her amazing life. Sam starts to see past Ruth’s rough exterior and into the heart of someone unique and worthy of his love.

Rampling as Ruth is absolute perfection in this role. She portrays a woman who has had a life that she makes no excuses for. Distant from her son, reaching out to her grandson in the most abrasive way, she once again makes no excuses for who she is or her life now. I loved her interactions with Sam because they were honest to the point of making me laugh. The delivery tone is a ‘take me or leave me’ with the undertone of ‘you know you like me’. Rampling delivers brilliance and I am there for it.

Ferrier as Sam is the typical teenager that thinks he knows everything and has a mouth that needs a bar of soap. Making it clear to his father that being home ‘sucks’ and that he has no desire to be of any help to a grandmother he doesn’t know, Sam thinks he controls everything. Well, after meeting Ruth it is clear that Sam has met his match. Ferrier gives every ounce of a rebellious teen yet his character portrayal begins to melt whether he wanted to or not. Watching the two come together truly made me smile.

Poor as Sarah is the go between having known Ruth more intimately than her own son. She tolerates a lot from Ruth and believes that saving her soul would be of immense help to the life she has lived. That being said, she also guides Sam into truly learning to know his grandmother using patience with them both. Poor is lovely and needed in the story giving such a gracious performance.

Csokas as Robert is a man totally detached from his mother Ruth constantly telling people that she wouldn’t even share important family information. Happy to have to go to England, he leaves his teen son and a caretaker with Ruth. When Sam reaches out to him, it becomes clear what is really important to Robert. Csokas role is not a big one but his place in the story is never far from what is on screen.

Other cast include Cameron Carter-Chan as Shaggas, Tane Rolfe as James, Alexander Sharman as Timothy, and Carlos Muller as Va Donk.

Greenwich Entertainment, founded in 2017, is an independent film distribution company specializing in distinctive, theatrical-quality narrative and documentary features. To see what more is available, please visit www.greenwichentertainment.com.

JUNIPER is such a lovely tale of a woman who clearly has slim regrets about her life and a grandson who clearly has slim regrets about the stunts he pulls. These two were meant to meet and even with Ruth being ill, Sam finds out more and more about her that pulls him towards spending time with a woman he thought held no meaning in his life.

The connection and communication between grandmother and grandson made me chuckle a lot because, oddly enough, I understand it. The generations are so very far apart but, in reality, outward times might change but there is still so much that hasn’t. It is up to Ruth and Sam to discover which is which and that makes their journey intense but amazing.

Rampling is so very lovely and Ferrier is fierce when his loyalty has something worth protecting. That makes this a story of true love.

In the end – life, don’t ever water it down!

There is more to THE PHANTOM

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to theatres from BAFTA-winning director Patrick Forbes, Greenwich Entertainment and premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival is the story of death, investigation, and injustice with THE PHANTOM.

In 1993, a young woman named Wanda Lopez was working a night shift at a Shamrock gas station in Texas when police dispatch receives a call. Ms. Lopez is worried about a young man outside the store who is scaring her. He enters the store and proceeds to rob and bring tragedy leaving behind a haunting recorded moment for investigators.

Arrested is 20-year-old Carlos DeLuna who is found lying underneath a car after a telephone call gives away his hiding. Taken into custody he is charged with the murder of Wanda Lopez. After questioning, Carlos tells police that the person responsible is also named Carlos Hernandez. During the investigation police did not find any other Carlos to link to the crime.

Prosecutors in the case told the jury that the “other” Carlos was a phantom, someone DeLuna wanted to blame for the heinous murder of an innocent woman. Even with no evidence linking DeLuna (no blood on his body or money from the robbery etc.) the jury found him guilty, and he was sentenced to death. Covering the trial was just a young reporter Karen Boudrie Greig who was swept up in the trial as the Lopez and DeLuna families were.

After the trial, it was Greig who kept in touch with DeLuna who continued to tell the story that it was the other Carlos responsible for the young woman’s death. In December of 1989, no one else could help DeLuna face the courts verdict. Professor James Liebman from Columbia University would speak with Greig letting her know the team was looking into it and discovered the phantom was real.

The answers would come, but not before the truth could set DeLuna free!

The Wrong Carlos: Anatomy of a Wrongful Execution is a book by James S. Liebman and the Columbia DeLuna Project as well as thewrongcarlos.net that lets readers see crime scene photos, court records, videotape interview and more.

Director Forbes says of the film, “I’m thrilled to be working with Greenwich on THE PHANTOM. They completely got the movie from day one – the mystery at its heart, and the tragic importance of what happened. In this film, for the first time we prove without a shadow of a doubt that America executed an innocent man. It’s a shocking, moving, and enraging story, and I couldn’t wish for a better partner to tell it with”.

THE PHANTOM is a heartbreaking story of a young man who told the truth and instead of diving deeper to keep from doing the wrong thing, chose the easy way to convict and move on. The DeLuna family is horrified learning of the history of Hernandez and how the police refused to investigate or admit they were wrong from beginning to end.

The tape played in court of Ms. Lopez seemed to me to be the convicting factor for a jury looking to make someone responsible. Yet, when it came time for evidence, there just was not any so for a jury to not take that into consideration just hurts the soul.

Listening to DeLuna’s brother tell his story of youth, family, difficulties and how it is possible that his brother became connected to Hernandez is so very important. DeLuna is not seen by the court as a person because they chose to believe and took the easiest route to “solving” a murder investigation.

THE PHANTOM does what the justice system did not, bring together all the evidence and all the people who have brought this story so that it never happens again.