Playwright Jean-Claude van Itallie and filmmaker Edith Goldenhar share their family histories in a virtual conversation about refugees and saviors in WW2 and today, featuring Edith’s documentary, Return to Calais, and Jean-Claude’s World War II memoir. Q&A will follow.
These long-time friends join together for a 1-hour program, starting with Edith’s film Return to Calais and followed by Jean-Claude’s vivid reminiscences of his refugee flight as a young child. He and Edith will honor their saviors – a person in power and an ordinary citizen – and speak to the current refugee crisis, sharpened by the COVID-19 pandemic. In a time when the world is told to “shelter in place” and “stay at home,” what about refugees, who have no shelter or place to call home? The messages of Jean-Claude’s memoir and Edith’s film are as true now as in 1940. Empathy connects the dots of displacement, across generations and geography.
Presented by the Shantigar Foundation and the Thomas Edison Black Maria Film Festival in partnership with the Lewis Center for the Arts.
This virtual event hosted on Zoom is free and open to all. Please pre-register online at the Shantigar Foundation: www.shantigar.org/refugees-and-saviors