My Italian Secret: The Forgotten Heroes
My Italian Secret: The Forgotten Heroes | |
---|---|
Directed by | Oren Jacoby[1] |
Written by | Oren Jacoby[1] |
Produced by | Oren Jacoby[1] |
Narrated by | Isabella Rossellini, Robert Loggia |
Cinematography | Gerardo Gossi, Robert Richman[1] |
Edited by | Deborah Peretz[1] |
Production company | Storyville Films |
Release date |
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Running time | 92 minutes[1] |
Country | United States |
My Italian Secret: The Forgotten Heroes is a 2014 documentary film, directed and written by Oren Jacoby, that tells the story of the rescue of thousands of Italian Jews during World War II by ordinary and prominent Italians, including the champion cyclist Gino Bartali. The film had its U.S. premiere at the Hamptons International Film Festival in October 2014,[1] and opened at theaters in Los Angeles and New York in March 2015.[2][3]
Synopsis
The film tells its story by relating the accounts of Jewish survivors "who return to Italy in their late adulthood to revisit the scenes of their worst nightmares: hidden in terror, fleeing in desperation, separated from loved ones, saying final goodbyes without knowing they were final."[4][5]
The film, narrated by Isabella Rossellini, includes dramatic reenactments in addition to interviews with survivors and relatives of the rescuers. It describes how many Italians, including Roman Catholic priests, risked their lives to hide Jews from Nazi troops after the German occupation of Italy in 1943. Among them was Bartali, whose words are spoken in a voiceover by actor Robert Loggia.[1]
Bartali is shown in archival footage and reenactments, and his son Andrea is interviewed. Italian dictator
The film features an interview with Giorgio Goldenberg, whose family was hidden by Bartali during the war.[6] It also describes the heroism of Dr. Giovanni Borromeo, administrator of the Catholic Fatebenefratelli Hospital on Tiber Island in Rome, who established a special ward to hide Jews. He said that the patients in the ward were suffering from a fatal and contagious disease, to discourage entry by Nazi troops.[1][7]
Among the survivors profiled in the film is a woman named Charlotte Hauptman, now in her eighties, who as a child had been rescued from the Nazis along with her parents in Calabria, Venice, and then Marche, where an entire village conspired to harbor them despite the dangers posed by German troops.[7]
About 80 percent of the Jews in Italy survived during World War II because of Italian rescuers, and Bartali alone rescued hundreds if not thousands of Jews and anti-Fascist partisans.[4][6]
Critical response
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Scheck, Frank (3 November 2014). "'My Italian Secret': Hamptons Review". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
- ^ a b Kenigsberg, Ben (26 March 2015). "Review: In 'My Italian Secret,' a Champion Cyclist Saves Jews From Nazis". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
- ^ a b Rechtshaffen, Michael (30 March 2015). "Review: 'My Italian Secret' honors unsung heroes who saved Jews in WWII". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
- ^ a b c d Ellenzweig, Allen (26 March 2015). "How Italy Saved Its Jews". The Arty Semite. The Jewish Daily Forward. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- ^ Kenyon, Sandy (31 March 2015). ""My Italian Secret" tells untold story of World War II's unsung heroes". WABC-TV New York. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
- ^ a b c d Peter Crutchley (9 May 2014). "Gino Bartali: The cyclist who saved Jews in wartime Italy". BBC News. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
- ^ a b "Characters". My Italian Secret. Retrieved 3 April 2015.