The Great Escape
NST Documentary Premiere shines a spotlight on untold story of World War II
BY STEPHEN VRATTOS
On Sunday, November 4,
2018, at 7:00 p.m. in the
Towers Cinema, the United
Jewish Association (UJA-Federation)
will present Above the
Drowning Sea. This powerful documentary
recounts the dramatic escape
of Jews from Nazi-controlled
Europe to Shanghai on the cusp
of World War II. The 90-minute
film will be directly followed by
a post-screening discussion with
Nicola Zavaglia, the film’s co-writer
and co-director.
Unfolding like a historic thriller,
Above the Drowning Sea recounts
the courageous intervention of Ho
Feng Shan, the Chinese Consul in
Vienna, which defied its own government
and braved the Gestapo
to issue visas to fleeing Jews. It’s
an untold story brought to the fore
through the vivid recollections of
the Jewish refugees and Chinese
residents of Shanghai, who helped
them survive—their experiences,
terrors and deprivations as well as
the remarkable friendships forged
across cultures, friendships which
survive to this day. Shot in six
countries across four continents,
Above the Drowning Sea is an
inspirational 90-minute emotional
journey which celebrates the
heroism and humanity of ordinary
people caught in extraordinary
circumstances. Perhaps what
makes this showing at North
Shore Towers most poignant is
there are several residents who
escaped persecution by way of
China during WWII.
Italian-born Co-Producer/
Director Zavaglia grew up in
Montreal’s East End. He studied
film at Loyola College
Communication Arts, continuing
his film education after graduation
in Rome where he worked with
such prominent filmmakers as
director Marco Ferreri (La Grande
Bouffe) and with writer Cesare
Zavattini (The Bicycle Thief).
Returning to Montreal, Zavaglia
worked as a travelling film teacher
in Quebec’s northern region
of Abitibi, and as a director with
Tele-Quebec and the National Film
Board of Canada. He’s also taught
film production, editing and screenwriting
at Concordia University. It
was way back in Loyola, where
he was first approached about a
documentary celebrating Ho Feng
Shan and the “miracle” of Shanghai
by friend René Balcor, executive
producer and co-director of Above
the Drowning Sea.
“Ho Feng Shan was the Chinese
consul in Vienna, who going against
his own government’s policies,
provided thousands of exit visas
to thousands of Jews desperate to
flee Austria. I was very impressed
by this brave consul’s story, and
by the stories of friendship and
solidarity between Jewish refugees
and their Chinese neighbors. It
was the first time that Europeans
mingled with the Chinese. Jews
and Chinese shared hardships.
Let’s not forget that in the 1930s,
there was war in Shanghai: the clash
between Chinese nationalists and
communists, the Japanese invasion
of China…
“The arrival of the Jews in
Shanghai was a great lesson in
life, it shows how Jewish refugees,
most of whom saw their standards
of living collapse, organized themselves
to survive, taking humble
jobs and using whatever knowledge
and skills they had. Of course,
there were also those who lived in
poverty. Otto Schnepp in the film
tells how difficult it was for him to
hear his mother complaining about
hunger. More difficult to bear than
hunger itself. These testimonies tell
us that not only that survival is possible,
but also the meeting between
completely different people. The
Chinese did not rebel against the
“invasion” of the Jews—often even
poorer than they—but often they
helped the refugees.”
UJA-Federation’s hosting of this
important documentary is keeping
with the organization’s founding
promise of never forgetting those
who died, nor abandoning those
who survived. There are 50,000
survivors living in New York, half
in poverty. In Israel, more than
210,000 Nazi victims are facing
similar issues. For many survivors
UJA’s network of nonprofits acts
as their family, tending to their
physical , emotional and social
needs. UJA is doing this through
the Community Initiative for
Holocaust Survivors (CIHS)
which helps vulnerable survivors
receive the care they desperately
need.
This NST premiere of Above the
Drowning Sea was made possible
not only by the efforts of UJAFederation,
but also the tireless
work of North Shore Towers UJA
Chair Eneas Arkawy, and Event
Chairs Fred Chernow and Robert
Ricken, and their committees.
Nicola Zavaglia shooting on
location
Marion Gerber with her Chinese friends
Don’t miss the NST
premiere of Above the
Drowning Sea
North Shore Towers Cinema
Sunday, November 4, 2018, at 7:00 p.m.
Ticket price: $10 per person.
(The ticket price is the value of the event and is not tax-deductible)
Please respond by leaving your check, made out to
“UJA-Federation,” with concierge to the attention of the following:
Building #1—Eneas Arkawy
Building #2—Robert Ricken
Building #3—Reva Mandelbaum
Or contact Sherri Candel at candels@ujafedny.org or 516-762-5896 10 NORTH SHORE TOWERS COURIER ¢ November 2018
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