Lon’s World Premiere

① memo 20171125 ~ Lon’s World Premiere ~ Last week the short documentary film LON by Nina Landau had its world premiere at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) , with showings from November 16-24th in one of the most beautiful cinemas in the world , the Tuschinski Theater in Amsterdam , Holland – a modern style mixed Art Deco , Jugendstil movie palace , opened in 1921 by the jewish polish immigrant Abraham Tuschinski (murdered in Auschwitz in 1942).

Lon Landau is a promising Jewish stage designer whose life takes a turn during World War II. He is held captive in a Belgian nazi camp, but decides to stay positive and do what he knows best: building dream worlds. LON is an ode to the power of imagination and how people maintain their dignity in difficult times.

Link to trailer LON documentary.

I first watched LON via the Belgian channel Canvas | VRT.be – which aired the film November 19th. Yesterday I watched the film in Tuschinski – and enjoyed the fine quality of the film on that big screen … and , by the way , the rich colors of the image I contributed – the picture of the oil-painted ‘Robin Hood’ marionette made by Lon Landau.

In Lon’s artistic spirit , Nina Landau shows the story of her great-uncle Lon in her short documentary animation film ‘LON’ , on a ‘stage’ of paper sheets , were hand-drawn figures , sketches , are brought to life , just like the marionettes Lon made 75 years ago for the puppet show he prepared for the children around him , living like he in the Nazi transit camp Kazerne Dossin – waiting for deportation to a death camp. Lon’s puppet show did not premiere for the children in the camp , because he was deported to Auschwitz shortly before the envisioned performance.

This 7 minute short Flemish version of ‘La Vita è bella’ by Nina Landau , and co-workers Jamie MacLean, Penelope Deltour , Gert Van Goethem , and Sus Slaets will be screened again in december in Belgium at the international Kort Film Festival in Leuven; and next Saturday , December 2nd 2017 at ‘Kortfilms in Dossin‘ , in the Kazerne Dossin museum in Mechelen .

Coming Soon … The Robert Clary Story

① memo 20171027 ~ Coming Soon … The Robert Clary Story ~

A truly inspiring film about a Hollywood legend
FROM BUCHENWALD TO HOLLYWOOD , THE ROBERT CLARY STORY
A film by Karen and Richard Bloom and Michel van der Burg

Richard Bloom Productions is producing a new documentary about legendary actor, Broadway star, singer, artist, author and Holocaust lecturer, Robert Clary.
Mr. Clary is widely known for his role as Corporal Lebeau on the long running TV series Hogan’s Heroes.
What is little known by the public is that Robert’s real last name is Widerman, and in 1942 at the age of 16, he and twelve members of his family were rounded up in Paris, France and deported by the Nazis to concentration camps. He was the only one to survive, having endured 31 months in four Nazi camps and a death march until his liberation from Buchenwald by the U.S. Army on April 11, 1945.
He was discovered singing in a Paris nightclub in 1947, signed to a recording contract and brought to the United States in 1949 where he met Merv Griffin, who introduced him to Eddie and Ida Cantor and their daughter, Natalie, who he would later marry.
His inspiring story will be shared with the world in From Buchenwald to Hollywood, The Robert Clary Story, which is currently in post-production.

Defending Holocaust History | 20141015

Defending Holocaust History | 20141015 | 1-memo.com | Defending Holocaust History special showing today – see richardbloomproductions.com

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Left Luggage | 20140908

Left Luggage | 20140908 | 1-memo•com | Left luggage found last Saturday while walking in Leiden (Holland). ‘Bagage’ (Ram Katzir, 2010) in front of the former police station (Zonneveldstraat) where Jewish Leideners were gathered for deportation during World War II.

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Nazi Family | 20140907

Nazi Family | 20140907 | 1-memo•com | Berlin taxi driver anecdote “… my grandfather was a nazi…..”
That night last year in Berlin – Sept. 7, 2013 – returning to my hotel by taxi from the Internationales Literaturfestival Berlin ( ilb’13 – at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele) – my around 55 years old Berliner taxi driver told me, he was working only at night for some 20 years now.
Just before he dropped me at my hotel near the Berlin Central Station – after he had silently listened during the ride, to my detailed account of my filming earlier that evening a reportage of the story of Simon Gronowski and Koenraad Tinel at the festival – he finally replied : “I was told only very recently by my father , that my grandfather was a nazi…..” .

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Transport XX Testimony | 20140902

Transport XX Testimony | 20140902 | 1-memo•com | Vive la paix et l’amitié entre les hommes – L’enfant du 20e convoi, Simon Gronowski / De Cirkel, Marja Pinckaers at the Institute St Sépulcre, Liège, Belgium, 19 Nov 2013.

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Palette Atelier Marcel Hastir | 20140830

Palette Atelier Marcel Hastir | 20140830 | 1-memo.com | Aug 30, 2014. For future screenings the documentary “Transport XX to Auschwitz” is now included (as of August 2014) in the media collections of both the Atelier Marcel Hastir (Rue du Commerce 51, Brussels, Belgium – ateliermarcelhastir.eu – as well as the Fondation Robert Maistriau (Robert Maistriau Foundation – Belgium and Congo – http://sites.google.com/site/fondationrobertmaistriau/robert-maistriau ) .
The Atelier was a nest of resistance, were the attack was planned by two of the three young Brussels’ heroes Youra Livschitz , Robert Maistriau, and Jean Franklemon, who liberated 17 people during their attack on the cattle car train ‘Transport XX’ , the night of April 19th 1943 – crammed with 1631 Jewish passengers, heading for Auschwitz – over 200 others jumped and escaped that night in Belgium too.
Still from video reportage of Simon Gronowski’s presentation the night of April 19, 2013 at the Atelier — 70 years after the attack on the Transport XX deportation train on April 19, 1943. | TakeNode ID 10cb1857-4045-4693-aa0a-aa2416fb712a

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