Full Description
This documentary tells the little-known story of Italy's role in saving the lives of over forty thousand European Jews during World War II. Originating as a personal inquiry by the director (whose father was saved by Italians), the film examines how Italian soldiers and high-ranking diplomats refused to collaborate in the "final solution" in Italy, Vichy France, Greece, and Croatia. Through war newsreels, interviews with Italian officials and Jews who survived (including Nazi-hunter Serge Klarsfeld, himself saved by the Italians), the film seeks to understand the motives behind these acts of conscience. Above all, THE RIGHTEOUS ENEMY demonstrates that individual morality can play a powerful role in history.
Filmmaker Bio(s)
Born in New York, 1956. Based in Italy since 1983.
Worked for a number of years as assistant director in both opera and films,
among others with Claude D’Anna (Macbeth, 1987) and Jim Jarmusch (Night on
Earth, 1991).
Wrote and directed The Righteous Enemy (WNET/NY, DISCOVERY - 1987) and True
Child of Vienna (2000). Co-wrote TV documentaries Al Nakba: The Palestinian
Catastrophe 1948 (Arte - 1997) and The Children of Abraham and Sophie
(Netherlands 1 - 2002).
Staged opera scene based on Dante's Vita Nova poems for the film Hannibal
(Ridley Scott, 2001).
