This documentary presents octogenarian Holocaust survivors transported in time to the extraordinary moment in April 1945, when—liberated from German concentration camps and facing an uncertain future—they arrived in Malmo, Sweden. After seeing the original 35mm footage (now digitally restored) that Swedish news photographers had captured that day, acclaimed director Magnus Gertten tracked down many of the anonymous faces—finding not only Jewish survivors, but Norwegian and French prisoners of war, Polish mothers with babies, British spies, and an Italian-American survivor of Auschwitz who had been charged with espionage. Gertten invited them to watch their liberation for the first time in front of his camera and recorded their overwhelming moments of euphoria, profoundly moving recollections, and thought-provoking commentary. Deftly edited by Jesper Osmond, who lived and worked on the JBFC campus in 2016 with artist-in-residence Maryam Ebrahimi, Every Face Has a Name intercuts present-day images of war evacuees from Africa and the Middle East, a reminder of humanity’s enduring responsibility to shelter displaced persons regardless of homeland.

SPONOSRED BY THE JEWISH WEEK