Screening HKHTC-supported Holocaust Films @ HK Jewish Film Festival 2024

The Most Precious of Cargoes (Sunday, 10 November, 1pm)

Oscar winning director Michel Hazanavicius (2011’s Best Picture, ‘The Artist’) turns to animation to present this powerful and unsettling story set during the height of World War II. Once upon a time, a poor woodcutter and his wife lived in a great forest. One day, the woodcutter’s wife rescues a baby girl thrown from one of the many trains that constantly pass through the forest. This baby, this “most precious of cargoes”, will transform their lives, as well as those whose paths the child will cross – including the man who threw her from the train. Some will try to protect her, whatever the cost. Their story reveals the best and worst in the hearts of mankind.

Link to trailer here.

Here Lived (Sunday, 10 November, 2:40pm)

When conceptual artist Gunter Demnig first conceived the idea of laying Stolpersteine (literal translation: stumbling stones) for Roma, Sinti, and disabled victims of National Socialism in his native Germany, he never imagined his project would grow to become the world’s largest decentralized memorial. The Stolpersteine he crafted is, in theory, quite simple: concrete blocks measuring 10x10cm, topped with permanent brass plates that are hand stamped with the names and fates of victims of Hitler’s reign of terror. The stones are laid into the pavement in front of the last voluntarily chosen residence of those murdered by the Nazis. They are deeply personal and draw attention to individual tragedies. They have now been placed in 30 countries across Europe and on May 23rd, 2023 we filmed Gunter Demnig laying the 100,000th Stolpersteine.

Link to trailer here.

Irena’s Vow (Monday, 11 November, 8:30pm)

Through the eyes of a strong-willed woman comes the remarkable story of Irena Gut, and the triumphs of the human spirit over devastating tragedy, as she risked her life to save a generation of Jews from the atrocities of the Holocaust.

Link to trailer here.

Delegation (Tuesday, 12 November, 7pm)

A school trip to Shoah memorials confronts young Israelis with a part of their identity and simultaneously with emotions and dynamics among themselves. A living appropriation of the past anchored in the present.

Link to trailer here.

The Return from the Other Planet (Sunday, 17 November, 1pm)

Were the atrocities of the concentration camps something that came from “another planet” or were they just the worst aspects of the world we live in? Katzetnic (“The Man from the Camps”) was a mysterious writer who was embraced by millions of readers around the world when, after the end of the Holocaust, he named Auschwitz, “The Other Planet”. But when he gains new understanding after undergoing controversial treatments for his trauma, his new message is largely overlooked.

Link to trailer here.

Giado: Holocaust in the Desert (Sunday, 17 November, 2:45pm)

The story of the Holocaust of the Libyan Jews is almost completely unknown outside of the community of survivors. At the age of 20, Yosef Dadush was among 3,000 Jews from Benghazi taken to the Giado concentration camp in the heart of the desert. For seven decades he concealed a private diary, locked away in a closet at his home. Now, his granddaughter documents the harrowing existence endured by the inmates of the camp. Along with her co-director, whose mother was also enslaved in the camp, they use interviews, animation, reconstructed models of the camp, and excepts from the diary to create this highly personal documentary.

Link to trailer here.