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Richard Trank will attend the Boulder Jewish Film Festival for a tribute program that includes a Colorado premiere, the showing of his Academy Award-winning documentary, and screenings of earlier films on subjects that include Winston Churchill and Theodor Herzl.
On January 28th, after attending the commemoration ceremonies for the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Trank posted a short article on the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s website. This highly personal rumination examines the ground swell of anti-Semitism engulfing much of the modern world. To read this piece, click here.
Trank works as a director, writer and executive producer of Moriah Films, the center’s highly successful film division. Moriah Films has produced a dozen acclaimed documentaries that shed light on the 3,500 year old Jewish experience as well as contemporary human rights and ethical issues. The Holocaust is examined from numerous angles in many of their films, most notably Against the Tide, which focuses on the unsung hero of the American Holocaust resistance movement, Peter Bergson. Another trademark of Moriah Films is the wonderful choice of actors who lend their voices to historical figures such as Herzl (Christoph Waltz), and narrators that include Ben Kingsley and Dustin Hoffman.
Moriah’s goal is to produce theatrical documentaries on a regular basis that both enlighten and educate while at the same time reach national and international audiences. Two of Moriahs’ films have been recipients of Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary, “Genocide” (1981) and “The Long Way Home” (1997).” according to their website.
Trank will attend all the screenings in his tribute program and will be on hand for an in-depth Q&A following each film, described below. Tickets to the film festival go on sale February 9 at thedairy.org.
OPENING NIGHT SCREENING AND RECEPTION
“The Prime Ministers: The Pioneers” – Part 1
Saturday, March 14, 7:45 pm in the Boe
Based on the best-selling book by Ambassador Yehuda Avner, this masterful appraisal of Israel’s formative years provides context for well-known but not easily understood events, casting light on the Six-Day War, Israel’s strategic relationship with the United States, the fight against terrorism, and the impact of the Yom Kippur War.
Directed by: Richard Trank / Starring the voices of Sandra Bullock, Michael Douglas, Leonard Nimoy and Cristoph Waltz
Running time: 115 minutes / Language: Hebrew and English
Talkback: Director Richard Trank
Sponsored by: HW Home
OPENING WEEKEND TRIBUTE TO RICHARD TRANK
“The Prime Ministers: Soldiers and Peacemakers” – Part 2
Sunday, March 15, 6:30 pm in the Performance Space
This riveting account of Israel’s leadership details negotiating agreements with Egypt, the raid on Entebbe, Anwar Sadat’s historic visit to Jerusalem, the Camp David Accords, the bombing of Iraq’s nuclear facility, the war in Lebanon, the Oslo Accords, and Israel’s ongoing struggle to make peace with its neighbors.
Directed by: Richard Trank / Voiced by Michael Douglas and Christoph Waltz
Running time: 106 minutes / Language: Hebrew and English
Talkback: Director Richard Trank
Sponsored by: Linda Brotman-Evans
“It Is No Dream: The Life of Theodor Herzl”
Sunday, March 15, Noon in the Boe
This inspiring historical biography examines how a well-known journalist, playwright, and assimilated Budapest-born Jew – horrified by the Dreyfus trial in Paris and the anti-Semitism he saw spreading across Europe – took upon himself the task of creating a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
Directed by: Richard Trank / Narrated by Ben Kingsley and starring the voice of Christoph Waltz
Running time: 87 minutes / Language: English
Talkback: Director Richard Trank
Sponsored by: Stand by Israel
“Winston Churchill: Walking With Destiny”
Sunday, March 15, 2:00 pm in the Boe
An inspirational look at the famed English leader’s early and unpopular opposition to Hitler and Nazism, this biography makes a case for historian Martin Gilbert’s assertion that if Churchill’s warnings about Nazi Germany’s policies towards Jews had been heeded in the early 1930’s, the Holocaust may never have occurred.
Directed by: Richard Trank / Narrated by Ben Kingsley
Running time: 101 minutes / Language: English
Talkback: Director Richard Trank
Sponsored by: Marilyn and Jerry Pinsker
“Against the Tide”
Sunday, March 15, 4:15 pm in the Boe
This compelling film documents a shameful and largely ignored chapter in American Holocaust history, dramatically depicting how activist Peter Bergson fought valiantly to rescue Europe’s Jews, challenging both Washington’s apathy and the Jewish establishment’s astounding opposition to the rescue efforts.
Directed by: Richard Trank / Narrated by: Dustin Hoffman
Running time: 102 minutes / Language: English
Talkback: Director Richard Trank
Sponsored by AEA Consultants: Graham Walker and Howard Bernstein
“The Long Way Home”
Monday, March 16, 1 pm in the Boe
This heartbreaking and illuminating Academy Award winner depicts the tragic plight of Jews after the gates of the death camps were thrown open, marking the end of one ordeal and the beginning of another for Jews with no home, family or financial resources, facing an uncertain future and an indifferent world.
Directed by: Richard Trank / Narrated by: Morgan Freeman
Running Time: 120 minutes / Language: English and other European languages
Talkback: Director Richard Trank
Sponsored by: Susan Litt
