Film Screening
The aim of the film screening is to provide a forum for discussion by Member States and civil society partners, and to raise awareness of the Holocaust and the dangers of hatred, bigotry, racism and prejudice.
2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006
Film director Tomasz Magierski (left) speaking at the screening of his film "Blinky and Me", 29 Janaury 2014. Credit: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
2023
Film Screening “The U.S. and the Holocaust” and Panel Discussion
A screening of a special 40-minute version of "The U.S. and the Holocaust", a film by Ken Burns, Lynn Novick and Sarah Botstein will be followed by a discussion with Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. The documentary combines first-person accounts of Holocaust witnesses and survivors and interviews with leading historians and writers. Inspired in part by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s “Americans and the Holocaust” exhibition and supported by its historical resources, the film examines the rise of Hitler and Nazism in Germany in the context of global antisemitism and racism, the eugenics movement in the United States and race laws in the American south. The documentary tackles a range of questions that remain essential to our society today, including how racism influences policies related to immigration and refugees as well as how governments and people respond to the rise of authoritarian states that manipulate history and facts to consolidate power.
2022
Virtual Film Discussion “The Last Survivors”
The documentary, “The Last Survivors” gathers together the compelling and, in some cases, never-before-heard testimony from Holocaust survivors living in Britain today. All of these extraordinary people were children during the Holocaust, but now in their later years, they reflect on their experiences with a different perspective and understanding of how this past trauma permeates through to their contemporary lives with increased significance. The panel discussion included Arthur Cary, director of “The Last Survivors”; Maurice Blik, sculptor, Holocaust survivor featured in the fllm, and Professor Deborah Dwork, Holocaust historian and author of the seminal work “Children with a Star: Jewish youth in Nazi Europe” and Director of the Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity at the Graduate Center—CUNY. The opening remarks were delivered by Ambassador James Roscoe, Deputy Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations, and Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications Melissa Fleming.
2021
Virtual Film Discussion "The Windermere Children"
“The Windermere Children” is a biographical drama about the recovery and rehabilitation of 300 young orphaned Jewish children who survived the Holocaust and were sent to the United Kingdom after the end of the Second World War. The film was commissioned by the BBC and ZDF Germany, and it was co-production between Wall to Wall Media and Warner Bros International Germany (WBITVP Germany). H.E. Mr. Jonathan Allen, Deputy Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations delivered opening remarks. The film discussion included Mr. Michael Samuels, film director, Ms. Nancy Bornat, film producer, Ms. Joanna Millan, Holocaust survivor, and Mr. Trevor Avery, historian and director of Lake District Holocaust Project. The discussion was moderated by Mr. Maher Nasser, Director of the Outreach Division in the United Nations Department of Global Communications.
2020
The Accountant of Auschwitz
"The Accountant of Auschwitz" follows the trial of Oskar Gröning, who was charged with being an accessory to the murder of 300,000 Jews at Auschwitz. During the Holocaust, Gröning had recorded and tallied the cash and personal valuables seized from Jews arriving at the camp. The trial began in 2015 when Gröning was 93. "The Accountant of Auschwitz" traces the history leading to Gröning’s trial and the race against time to bring to justice last living Nazis. Directed by Matthew Shoychet, and produced by Ricki Gurwitz and Ric Esther Bienstock, the documentary weaves archival footage, contemporary trial coverage, and interviews with survivors and human rights advocates to offer compelling investigations of history, conscience, and justice. The screening followed by a Q&A session with Ricki Gurwitz, Ric Esther Bienstock and Thomas Walther.
2019
Broken Dreams
On 2 May 2019 the Department of Global Communications and the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Poland to the United Nations organzied the screening of the film Broken Dreams marking Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, in the Hebrew calendar. Broken Dreams is the compelling story of two Polish Jewish, teenage sisters, Renia and Ariana Spiegel, struggling to survive the Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Poland. The film draws on the journal kept by Renia from 1939 to the summer of 1942. In 1942, Renia was murdered by the Nazis. She had just turned 18. The film presents a powerful insight into a young life cut short before the talent evident in her writing could blossom.
Ms. Alison Smale, Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, welcomed the audience. The director, Mr. Tomasz Magierski, introduced the film following remarks by Paweł Radomski, the Deputy Permanent Representative of Poland. Following the screening, a discussion was held with Mr. Magierski and Holocaust survivor Ariana Elżbieta Bellak, Renia Spiegel’s younger sister. The discussion was moderated by Ms. Alison Smale, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications.
Press Release: United Nations Department of Global Communications to Screen Premiere of ‘Broken Dreams’ at New York Headquarters, 2 May
Who Will Write Our History
In November 1940, days after the Nazis sealed 350,000 Jewish men, women and children in the Warsaw Ghetto, historian Emanuel Ringelblum began to develop a secret archive of the ordeal facing those imprisoned by the Nazis in the Ghetto and the new arrivals, who shared their stories of deportation and murder. The core group of archivists was comprised of journalists, scholars and community leaders and was known by the code name Oyneg Shabes. The group buried the archive, most of which was discovered after the Second World War. The archive remains a powerful example of resistance and a heroic attempt to safeguard Jewish heritage and culture. This film integrates the writings of the contributors to the archive with new interviews, rarely seen footage and dramatizations to show the risk the group was willing to take to preserve their history.
The film screening was organized with support from American Jewish Committee’s Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights. Invited speakers included Ms. Nancy Spielberg, Executive Producer; Ms. Roberta Grossman, writer, film director and producer; Professor Samuel Kassow, historian and author of the book Who will write our history?; and Ms. Felice Gaer, Director of the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights, American Jewish Committee. Following the screening, Mr. Maher Nasser, Director of the Outreach Division, moderated a discussion with Ms. Nancy Spielberg, Ms. Roberta Grossman, and Professor Samuel Kassow.
UN News: Nancy Spielberg releases new documentary “Who Will Write Our History”
Press Release: United Nations Department of Global Communications Presents Screening of ‘Who Will Write Our History?’ at Headquarters, 30 January
2018
Children of the Holocaust
The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme, in partnership with the Permanent Missions of the United Kingdom to the United Nations, organized the film screening and discussion of the film "Children of the Holocaust". This British film combines animation and interviews with elderly survivors who recount their childhood experiences of Nazi atrocities, their escape from occupied mainland Europe to Britain and the impact that this had on their lives. H.E. Mr. Jonathan Guy Allen, Deputy Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations, delivered opening remarks. Following the film, a discussion was held with the Producer Kath Shackleton and the Director of Fettle Animation, Zane Whittingham. Ms. Alison Smale, Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, moderated the Q&A (Watch Q&A session here).
2017
Persona Non Grata
The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme, in partnership with the Permanent Missions of Japan and Lithuania to the United Nations, organized the film screening and discussion of the film "Persona Non Grata". The film reveals the story of Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese diplomat whose decision to issue visas to Jewish refugees in Kaunas, Lithuania, saved thousands of lives. The Permanent Representatives of Japan and Lithuania to the United Nations delivered opening statements. Film director Cellin Gluck introduced the film and participated in a discussion with the audience. Mr. Maher Nasser, the Director of the Outreach Division in the United Nations Department of Public Information, moderated the discussion.
UN News: Story of Japan’s 'Schindler' offers lessons for tackling contemporary xenophobia
UN News: Interview with movie director, Cellin Gluck
2016
Woman in Gold
The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme, in partnership with the World Jewish Congress and the Weinstein Company, organized the film screening and discussion that shed light on the loss of personal property and humiliation that Jewish families endured in Nazi-occupied Europe, and how difficult it has been for them to attain justice. It provide insight into the desperate situation faced by the victims of the Holocaust under a reign of terror and the complete breakdown of fair legal practice. For many families, the plunder of art and personal assets remains one of many unsolved transgressions committed by the Nazis. The screening took place on 28 January 2016 as part of a series of events marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day (27 January).
Directed by Simon Curtis, "Woman in Gold" is the remarkable true story of one woman’s journey to reclaim her heritage and seek justice for what happened to her family. Sixty years after she fled Vienna during the Second World War, Maria Altmann (Helen Mirren), an elderly Jewish woman, starts her journey to retrieve family possessions seized by the Nazis, among them Klimt's famous painting Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I. Together with her inexperienced but plucky young lawyer, Randy Schoenberg (Ryan Reynolds), she embarks upon a major battle that takes them all the way to the heart of the Austrian establishment and the United States Supreme Court, and forces her to confront difficult truths about the past along the way.
Press Release: United Nations Headquarters Will Screen ‘Woman in Gold’ in January 2016 to Mark Holocaust Remembrance Week
Press Release: Acclaimed Film ‘Woman in Gold’ to Screen at United Nations Headquarters, 28 January
2015
Kinderblock 66: Return to Buchenwald
This documentary film by director Rob Cohen focuses on the lives of four men, who were imprisoned in the Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar, Germany, and return to commemorate the sixty-fifth anniversary of their liberation in April 1945. The film lays out the story of the creation of the children’s block - block 66 - by the camp’s Communist-led underground. They worked to help protect the Jewish teenage boys who were arriving in large numbers in 1944 at the end of the Second World War. H.E. Mr. Heiko Thoms, Deputy Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations, Mr. Maher Nasser, Acting Head, Department of Public Information, and the film’s executive producer, Mr. Steve Moskovic, spoke before the screening. A discussion with Mr. Rob Cohen, the film’s writer and director, and Holocaust survivor Mr. Alex Moskovic followed the documentary and was moderated by Ms. Kimberly Mann, Manager of the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme.
Press Release: United Nations to Screen Holocaust Documentary on 28 January to Honour Survivors, Liberators (26 January 2015)
2014
Blinky and Me
The screening is organized by the United Nations Holocaust Programme in partnership with the Permanent Mission of Australia to the United Nations. The screening took place on 29 January 2014 as part of a series of events marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day (27 January). This documentary film tells the life story of Yoram Gross, a Holocaust survivor and iconic Australian animator. Through discussions with his five grandchildren, Gross recounts his family’s experience in hiding and narrow escapes from the Nazis in Poland. The film follows the artist through his childhood there, to Israel and finally Australia where he settled with his wife to raise a family. His early work as an animator eventually led to the creation of the animated popular television series “The Adventures of Blinky Bill”, adapted from the children’s books by Dorothy Wall. In Mr. Gross’ animated series, many of Blinky’s encounters are based on Yoram’s own childhood experiences while running from the Nazis. This heart-warming film leads viewers to reflect on the human tragedy of the Holocaust, and the unrealized potential of those that were lost. H.E. Ms. Philippa Jane King, Deputy Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations, and Under-Secretary-General Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal opened the film. A discussion with filmmaker Tomasz Magierski and Yoram Gross followed the screening.
2013
Rescue in the Philippines: Refuge from the Holocaust
The screening was organized by the United Nations Holocaust Programme and took place on 7 November 2013 marking the 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht. The film tells the little-known story of how President Quezon of the Philippines, along with a small group of influential Americans who were living in the Philippines in 1935, crafted a plan to rescue more than 1,000 European Jews. What started as regular poker matches with friends turned into a highly coordinated plan of rescue. The film tells the little-known story of how President Quezon of the Philippines, along with a small group of influential Americans who were living in the Philippines in 1935, crafted a plan to rescue more than 1,000 European Jews. What started as regular poker matches with friends turned into a highly coordinated plan of rescue. The screening followed by a panel discussion with historian Bonnie Gurewitsch of the Museum of Jewish Heritage, Holocaust survivor Ursula Progl, whose family found refuge in the Philippines, and Executive Producer Russell C. Hodge.
Press Release: United Nations to Screen Documentary on Philippines’ Rescue of Jews during Holocaust, 7 November
The Rescuers
The screening is organized by the United Nations Holocaust Programme in partnership with the United States Mission to the United Nations and the Sousa Mendes Foundation. The screening took place on 23 January 2013. This documentary film by Emmy award-winning filmmaker Michael King chronicles the heroic efforts of a dozen diplomats who used the powers and privileges tied to their postings throughout Europe to save the lives of tens of thousands of Jews during the Second World War. These 12 individuals – from a Muslim Turk stationed in Greece to a Japanese envoy posted in Lithuania - took enormous personal risks to their lives and livelihoods to help others in dire circumstances. Michael King follows Sir Martin Gilbert, an eminent Holocaust historian who lost family members to the Holocaust, and Stephanie Nyombayire, a young Rwandan anti-genocide activist whose family was murdered during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, as he interviews Holocaust survivors and descendants of the rescuers. Producer Joyce D. Mandell introduced the film. Michael King and Leon Moed, a Holocaust rescuee, took part in Q&A following the screening.
Press Release: United Nations to Screen ‘The Rescuers’ to Mark Holocaust Remembrance Day While Honouring Heroic Actions, Moral Courage of 12 Diplomats
2012
Nicky's Family
The Programme partnered with the Permanent Missions of the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the United Nations for a special screening of the highly acclaimed film Nicky’s Family. The screening took place on 15 March 2012 at the Bohemian National Hall, a vital centre for Czech culture in New York City. The film documents the story of Nicholas Winston (today 102 years old), an Englishman who organized the rescue of 669 Czech and Slovak children, nearly all Jewish, just before the outbreak of World War II. His exploits would have probably been forgotten if his wife, fifty years later, hadn't found a suitcase in the attic, full of documents and transport plans. The opening remarks were delivered by Kiyo Akasaka, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, Ambassador Miloš Koterec, Permanent Representative of Slovakia to the UN and Ambassador Edita Hrdá, Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the UN. The film screening followed by a reception featuring performances by the famed Slovak jazz musician Ludmila Stefanikova and her band
Press Release: United Nations, Czech Republic, Slovakia to screen "Nicky's Family" documentary on Rescue of Children before Holocaust
The Last Flight of Petr Ginz
On 25 January 2012 the UN Department of Public Information organized a screening of a film “The Last Flight of Petr Ginz”. It is a new animated documentary on the life and artwork of Petr Ginz, a Jewish boy from Prague who perished in the Holocaust at the age of 16, after spending two years in Terezin. He was a brilliant child who wrote a diary, four novels and created 200 illustrations and paintings during his short life. The screening was held in partnership with the Documentary Film Program at Wake Forest University and the Documentary Institute at the University of Florida and the Permanent Mission of the Czech Republic to the United Nations. The opening remarks were delivered by the Ambassador Edita Hrdá and Mr. Stephen Cypen, Executive Producer of the film.
The film followed by a Q&A session with the filmmakers Ms. Sandra Disckson and Mr. Churchill Roberts, illustrator Mr. Cory Godbey, and Mr. Leo Lowy, a Holocaust survivor and a friend of Petr Ginz. A message from Chava Pressburger has been delivered by her son Yoram Pressburger. The Q&A session was moderated by Ms. Kimberly Mann, Manager, the Holocaust and United Nations Outreach Programme, Department of Public Information.
Press Release: United Nations to Honour Child Holocaust Victims by Screening "The Last Flight of Petr Ginz" at Headquarters, 25 January
2011
The Relief of Belsen
On 2 May 2011 the UN Department of Public Information in partnership with the United Kingdom Mission to the United Nations organized screening of a film "The Relief of Belsen". The film brings to the screen the true story of the massive humanitarian relief effort by the British army in liberating Bergen Belsen concentration camp in April 1945. The camp, administered by the Nazis, became overwhelmed as Jewish and other prisoners evacuated from camps closer to the front continued to arrive. Thousands of Jews and other prisoners died of typhus and other causes in the camp, yet with help of British Medical Corps, many others survived.
The film, written by Justin Hardy and Peter Guinness and produced by Sue Horth, won the Broadcast Award for best single drama and was nominated for several prestigious awards, among them the British Academy award for specialist factual film-making, the Grierson award for best drama-documentary and the Royal Television Society award for Best history film. The film followed by a Q&A session with Menachem Rosensaft, who was born in the Bergen Belsen DP camp and whose father headed both the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the British Zone of Germany and the Jewish Committee that administered the Bergen-Belsen DP camp; and Professor Atina Grossman, a historian and an expert on Bergen Belsen and the Holocaust in Germany.
Remarks by Professor Atina Grossman
Press Release: United Nations to Mark Liberation of Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp with Film at Headquarters
Daring to Resist
On 25 January 2011 the UN Department of Public Information organized screening of a film Daring to Resist. Distributed by Women Make Movies, the documentary film "Daring to Resist" features the stories of three young Jewish women who found unexpected ways to fight back against the Nazis during the Holocaust: one became a partisan, another shuttled Jews to safe houses and distributed resistance newspapers and a third smuggled Jews across the border. The screening was followed by a discussion with Mr. Frank Blaichman, former partisan, and Ms. Bonnie Gurewitsch, Archivist/ Curator, Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, NY. Moderated by Ms. Kimberly Mann, Manager, the Holocaust and United Nations Outreach Programme, Department of Public Information.
Remarks by Ms. Bonnie Gurewitsch
Remarks by Mr. Frank Blaichman
2010
Among the Righteous: Lost Stories from the Holocaust in Arab Lands
The Programme and the New York Tolerance Center held the screening of a film on Arabs who saved Jews during the Holocaust on 24 May 2010 at the New York-based Simon Wiesenthal Tolerance Centre. Based on the literary work of the same title written by Robert Satloff, this new documentary was made in partnership with MacNeil-Lehrer Productions and has aired on PBS Television. It retells largely forgotten stories from World War II in North Africa of Arabs who saved their Jewish neighbors from the Holocaust -- a story which Holocaust historiography has largely left untouched. The documentary digs into history to uncover not only cases of Jewish persecution in North Africa similar to the Jewish experience in Europe, but also stories of the "righteous" Arabs that protected Jews. Filmed in eight different countries stretching from Morocco to Israel, the documentary reveals surprising discoveries about the past that can help challenge how Arabs and Jews alike view this part of Holocaust history.
The event began with an introduction by the Officer-in-Charge for the Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information. Following the screening, a question and answer session was held with Robert Satloff, Executive Director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, moderated by Mark Weitzman, Director of the Task Force against Hate and Terrorism, Associate Director of Education for the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) and Founding Director of the SWC’s New York Tolerance Center.
Defiance
On Thursday 28 January 2010 the Department of Pubic Information organized a screening of Defiance cosponsored by the United States Mission to the United Nations, to conclude the series of events held for the International Day of commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. Defiance is a feature film about Jewish partisans battling the Nazis in Belarus, starring Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber. It is based on a true story that was detailed in the book with the same name written by Holocaust scholar and survivor Nechama Tec. Director Edward Zwick is well-known for his epic films such as Blood Diamond and The Last Samurai. This screening has been made possible by Paramount Pictures.
Press Release: United Nations to Honour Legacy of Holocaust Survivors at New York Headquarters Memorial Ceremony, 27 January
Remarks by H.E. Alejandro Wolff, Deputy Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations
2009
As Seen through These Eyes
In observance of the anniversary of the Kristallnacht Pogrom of 9 November 1938, the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme organized the screening of the documentary film, As Seen through These Eyes, on Monday 9 November 2009 in the Trusteeship Council Chamber. A conversation with the film’s Director, Producer, Writer, Hilary Helstein, on learning about the Holocaust through art followed the screening. Ms. Helstein travelled the world over the past decade to compile interviews with artists who have survived the Holocaust. Each conversation brings with it the realization that every painting or sketch on a torn scrap of paper is its own Holocaust diary. Their words and their images of the survivors are profoundly moving, communicating horror and hope artistically. Narrated by Maya Angelou and produced in association with Sundance Channel, the film aims to combat prejudice, bigotry and intolerance. This screening was held in partnership with Menemsha Films. On this occasion, the Department of Public Information has launched "The Holocaust and the United Nations Discussion Papers Journal". The publication, which includes a foreword by Under-Secretary-General Kiyo Akasaka and nine papers drafted by experts on the Holocaust and prevention of genocide, provides a forum for individual scholars representing a variety of cultures and perspectives, to raise issues for debate and further study.
Press Release: United Nations to Screen Film on Holocaust Art on 9 November
Watermarks
The Department of Pubic Information held a screening of the documentary Watermarks, on Thursday 29 January 2009 in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium at United Nations Headquarters. "Watermarks" tells the story of the champion women swimmers of the legendary Jewish sports club, Hakoah, which was located in Vienna, Austria. In defiance of Hitler, the women courageously refused to take part in the Berlin Olympics in 1936. After the Anschluss, the political unification of Nazi Germany and Austria in 1938, the Nazis shut down the club, but the swimmers managed to flee the country before the war broke out. Sixty-five years later, director Yaron Zilberman meets the members of the women’s swim team in their homes around the world, and arranges for them to have a reunion in their old swimming pool in Vienna, a journey that evokes memories of youth, femininity and strengthens lifelong bonds. Director Yaron Zilberman made a brief statement to introduce the film.
Press release: United Nations to observe Holocaust Remembrance Day, 27 January - Events include Memorial Ceremony, exhibits, film screening
2008
My Opposition: the Diaries of Friedrich Kellner, 70th Anniversary Observance of Kristallnacht
This 2007 documentary film narrates the story of former court official Friedrich Kellner, a political activist in the Third Reich who defied the Nazis by campaigning against them and later secretly documenting their atrocities in his diary, at the risk of his life. As a consequence, he was brought before a tribunal and threatened with imprisonment in a concentration camp. Today, his grandson Prof. Robert Scott Kellner, who discovered and translated the ten volume diaries, uses them to raise awareness on the dangers of totalitarian ideology. The documentary was also screened in the 2008 Toronto Film Festival.
Remarks by Kiyo Akasaka, UN Under-Secretary General for Communications and Public Information
Opening remarks by His Excellency Mr. Thomas Matussek, Permanent Representative of the Federal Republic of Germany to the United Nations
Press release: UN DPI will hold panel discussion and film screening on 10 November to mark 70th Anniversary of Kristallnacht
UN News Article: UN Observes anniversary of Kristallnacht pogros against Jews
Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport
The Department of Pubic Information held a screening of the documentary Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport, on Thursday, 31 January 2008 in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium at United Nations Headquarters. The event was hosted by Kiyo Akasaka, Under-Secretary General for Communications and Public Information and opening remarks were made by Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the United Nations, Her Excellency Karen Pierce. The film’s producer Ms. Deborah Oppenheimer and David G. Marwell, Ph.D., Director of the Museum of Jewish Heritage A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, took part in a discussion after the film. The film describes how for nine months prior to the outbreak of World War II, in an unprecedented act of mercy, Great Britain conducted an extraordinary rescue mission known as the Kindertransport. Ten thousand endangered children were transported from their homes in Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland and placed into foster homes and hostels, expecting eventually to be reunited with their parents. The majority of the children never saw their families again. Told in the words of the child survivors, rescuers, parents and foster parents and illustrated with rare archival footage and photographs, Into the Arms of Strangers recounts the remarkable story of this rescue operation and its dramatic impact on the lives of the children who were saved.
2007
Steal a Pencil For Me
The United Nations Department of Public Information and the Anne Frank Center USA jointly screened Steal a Pencil for Me, presented by Red Envelope Entertainment, in connection with the Holocaust and the United Nations outreach programme. The screening took place at 6 p.m. on Monday, 16 April 2007, at United Nations Headquarters in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium. Raymond Sommereyns, Director of the Outreach Division, Department of Public Information, made opening remarks, followed by Yvonne Simons, Executive Director, Anne Frank Center USA and Michèle Ohayon, filmmaker.
Press Release: UN DPI and Anne Frank Center USA to screen "Steal a Pencil For Me" on 16 April as part of the Holocaust Outreach Programme
Spell Your Name
In Russian, with English subtitles. Screened on 1 February 2007 at the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, United Nations Headquarters. Directed by Sergey Bukovsky and presented by Steven Spielberg, Victor Pinchuk and the Shoah Foundation for Visual History and Education at the University of Southern California, the movie follows a journey of discovery by Ukrainian students who absorb the testimony of local people who escaped brutal execution and those who rescued friends and neighbors during the Holocaust. A collection of men and women share the details of their experiences, and we are afforded a glimpse of modern day Ukraine: the ethnic stereotypes that continue to exist and the manner in which Post-Soviet society is dealing with the question of how to memorialize the sites where tens of thousands of Jewish families and others were executed and thrown into mass graves.
Remarks by Mr. Viktor Kryzhanivskyi, Chargé d´Affaires, a.i. of Ukraine to the United Nations, at the screening of "Spell Your Name"
Remarks by Ms. Kim Simon, Director of International Programs and Communications, USC Shoah Foundation Institute
University of Southern California, Shoah Foundation for Visual History and Education
I Only Wanted To Live
Directed by Mimmo Calopresti and produced by the Shoah Foundation for Visual History and Education at the University of Southern California, the movie narrates the stories of nine Italian citizens who survive deportation and internment in the Auschwitz death camps. Nine stories through which we follow the most significant events of this harrowing experience: the enactment of the racial laws in Italy, the futile escape attempts, the deportation, the separation from other family members, the miraculous survival in Auschwitz, and liberation with the arrival of the allied soldiers.
Remarks by Mr. Stefano Gatti, First Counsellor, Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations, at the screening of "I Only Wanted To Live"
Remarks by Ms. Kim Simon, Director of International Programs and Communications, USC Shoah Foundation Institute
University of Southern California, Shoah Foundation for Visual History and Education
2006
The Pianist
The United Nations Department of Public Information and the New York Tolerance Center jointly screened on 19 July 2006 "The Pianist", the second movie in the film series launched in connection with the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme. The screening took place in the Tolerance Center. Directed by the famous filmmaker Roman Polanski, the movie is based on the autobiography of Wladyslav Szpilman, a Polish Jew and a celebrated pianist and composer who, during the Nazi occupation, evaded deportation and remained in the ravaged Warsaw Ghetto. There, he fought to stay alive, even when separated from his loved ones, and confronted his fears with the aid from the unlikeliest source - a Nazi officer who helped him hide during the final days of the war. "The Pianist" won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and Oscars for directing, acting (Adrien Brody) and adapted screenplay in the year 2002.
Press Release: UN DPI and New York Tolerance Center to screen "The Pianist" (12 July 2006)
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days
The United Nations Department of Public Information and the New York Tolerance Center jointly launched a film series on 25 April 2006 (Yom Hashoah) in connection with the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme. Raymond Sommereyns, Director of the Outreach Division, DPI, and Mark Weitzman, Director of the New York Tolerance Center, made opening remarks.
The first screening was scheduled for 25 April in the Tolerance Center and featured the film "Sophie Scholl: The Final Days". The film is about the last six days in the life of Sophie Scholl who is caught by the Gestapo as a member of the German Nazi-resistance group, the White Rose, and is executed for “high treason” by the Nazis. The film won the prestigious Silver Bear award at the Berlin Film festival in 2005. As co-sponsor of this screening, Hans-Juergen Heimsoeth, Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany based in New York, also made a brief statement.
Press Release: UNDPI and New York Tolerance Center to jointly host film series on Holocaust, prevention of genocide (19 May 2006)
Fateless
The Holocaust and the United Nations Otreach Programme and the United Nations Staff Recreation Council’s Film Society jointly hosted the screening of the movie "Fateless" on 24 Janaury 2006 in United Nations Headquarters in New York. Catherine Claxton, President of the United Nations Film Society, and Raymond Sommereyns, Director of the Outreach Division, introduced the film. The movie is based on the novel with the same name by Nobel Literature Laureate Imre Kertesz which follows a 14-year Jewish boy from Budapest to the Buchenwald concentration camp
Press release: United Nations to observe the first Universal Commemoration in Memory of the Holocaust victims