THOU SHALT NOT BE INDIFFERENT 

80th Anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

On the 19th of April, we will celebrate the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The Polin Museum - the main partner of the Warsaw Jewish Film Festival - has prepared a rich year-round program of cultural activities dedicated to this event. We will have the opportunity to visit the temporary exhibition “Around Us a Sea of Fire" or participate in the 11th Daffodils social-educational campaign in six Polish cities, this time dedicated to civilians.

The "Camera of David" Foundation, which organizes the annual Warsaw Jewish Film Festival, was invited to co-create the program of film screenings, which will culminate in the 21st Warsaw Jewish Film Festival on October 23-29, 2023. This year’s motto of the festival will be words-message spoken by Marian Turski on 27th of January 2020: "if you are indifferent, you will not even look back, and some Auschwitz will fall from the sky on you and your descendants."

The organizers of the festival have planned both traditional encounters with public audience in cinemas, as well as selected online screenings for all Polish-speaking viewers.

The festival special program is available on VOD Warszawa and presents 4 films on topics related to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising entitled "WJFF: Thou Shalt Not Be Indifferent”:

1.“Marek Edelman…and there was love in ten ghetto”, dir. Joanna Dylewska, Poland, Germany 2019, documentary.

The main hero of the film and the last leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Marek Edelman, talks about whether such values as love, goodness and beauty could exist in the face of dramatic events.

2. “Warsaw: A city divided”, dir. Eric Bednarski, Poland 2019, documentary.

The pretext for director Eric Bednarski to make a film about the events that caused the destruction of the city and its population is the discovery of an amateur film -tape showing the reality on both sides of the Warsaw Ghetto Wall.

3. “Who will write our history?”, dir. Roberta Grossman, Poland, USA 2018, documentary. 

The documentary tells the story of doctor Emanuel Ringelblum, who together with a group of intellectuals documented the tragedy of Jewish life in the Warsaw Ghetto.

4. “There was no hope. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising 1943”, dir. Kama Veymont, Poland 2016, documentary/animation.

Using the form of stop-motion animation, the creators present the situation of Jews in pre-war Warsaw, the course of the uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto, as well as places-symbols of the Warsaw Ghetto.

5. "HOLY WEEK", DIR. ANDRZEJ WAJDA, POLAND 1995, FEATURE

As the Warsaw Ghetto burns, a Jewish woman seeks sanctuary with a former boyfriend on the Christian side of the city. Andrzej Wajda’s adaptation of  Jerzy Andrzejewski’s short story Holy Week is an inquiry into the relationship between Polish Christians and Polish Jews during World War II. If Jan hides Irena in his home, he will be committing a crime for which the sentence in Nazi-occupied Poland is death for the perpetrator and his family. His humanitarian nature still shines through, and the two forge a tense but caring new chapter in their deeply rooted relationship.

"Don't be indifferent"

"Don't be indifferent" is the motto of the celebrations taken from Marian Turski's speech. Film is a medium that allows this slogan to be conveyed in an accessible and attractive form, making the viewer more sensitive, insightful and attentive. We have no influence on the past, but we present today the history to our viewers. Let's not forget that the future will depend on what foundations we create "here and now”. 

FILMS ARE AVAILABLE on VOD.WARSZAWA.PL - POLAND-WIDE.

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