Our inaugural screening dedicated to longtime board member, bridge-builder, and dear departed friend Joyce Pastor.
April 1945. A train carrying Jewish prisoners from Bergen-Belsen is abandoned by the Nazis as the Red Army occupies a small German village. A typhus epidemic on the train leads the Soviets to quarantine the village, forcing German locals, Russian soldiers, and Jews from Bergen-Belsen to co-exist. An unexpected friendship emerges between three courageous young women as they care for the sick: Simone, a Dutch Jew; Vera, a Russian soldier; and Winnie, a German villager. Despite the traumas each has endured, they overcome anger, distrust, and fear, and discover their shared humanity.
Followed by a conversation with Writer/Director Saskia Diesing via Zoom and Actress Hanna Van Vliet in person*.
*Watch recorded talkbacks for some virtual screenings on the Boston Jewish Film Youtube channel following the festival.