RELEASED: Feb. 3, 2005

DANVILLE, KY—In conjunction with the exhibition, Voices in the Darkness: The Holocaust, Arts, and Culture, which runs through July at Centre's Norton Center for the Arts, the College is mounting a series of films about, or inspired by, the Holocaust. All films will be shown in Newlin Hall, and admission is free. The general public is welcome.
Charles Vahlkamp, film historian and Centre College professor emeritus, will offer an introduction to each film in the series. "In some ways," says Vahlkamp, "both the film series and the Holocaust exhibit tie in with the 60th anniversary of the end of the war and the Liberation in 1945, when the extent of the horrors of the Holocaust first became apparent. The further away from these events we get, the more tempting it will be to forget, and it's important not to forget. "

Here is the schedule:

The Pawnbroker
Sidney Lumet, Director
United States, 1964. 116 minutes.
Tuesday, February 8 • 7:30 p.m.
Harlem pawnbroker Sol Nazerman is a concentration camp survivor still haunted by his experiences. His interactions with his customers and neighbors bring back many painful memories. Rod Steiger was nominated for an Oscar for his role as the pawnbroker.

Sophie's Choice
Alan J. Pakula, Director
United States, 1982. 150 minutes.
Monday, February 21 • 7:30 p.m.
A Polish survivor living in New York must come to terms with her past and with decisions she was forced to make by Nazi authorities. Meryl Streep stars as Sophie.

The Pianist
Roman Polanski, Director
United States, 2002. 150 minutes.
Tuesday, March 1 • 7:30 p.m.
Nominated for seven Oscars and winner of three, this film deals with the tribulations of a young musician (played by Oscar winner Adrien Brody) trapped in the Warsaw ghetto. The director was also a survivor of the Holocaust.

Goodbye, Children (Au Revoir les enfants)
Louis Malle, Director.
France, 1987. 84 minutes.
Tuesday, March 15 • 7:30 p.m.
Malle recounts, in a somewhat fictionalized version, his own wartime experiences in France. He was sent along with many other children from his home in occupied Paris to a school in a rural area where he would be safe from the turmoil and dangers of the city. It didn't work out quite as planned.

Schindler's List
Steven Spielberg, Director.
United States, 1993. 194 minutes.
Tuesday, April 19 • 7:30 p.m.
Spielberg's controversial Oscar-winning film relates the true story of industrialist Oskar Schindler who, while maintaining his ties to the Nazis, managed to extricate hundreds of Jews from Auschwitz. With Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, and Ralph Fiennes.




Life is Beautiful (La Vita è bella)
Roberto Benigni, Director
Italy, 1997. 116 minutes.
Tuesday, April 26 • 7:30 p.m.
Another Oscar-winning film, Life is Beautiful starts as a comedy but ends with the heroic efforts of an Italian-Jewish father to protect his son from the horrors of concentration camp life.

Weapons of the Spirit (Les Armes de l'esprit)
Pierre Sauvage, Director
Documentary. France, 1988. 90 minutes.
Monday, May 2 • 7:30 p.m.
This film tells the story of a French village's dangerously unselfish campaign to shelter Jewish children almost right under the noses of the Nazi occupiers. The filmmaker was one of those children, and he goes back to the village to interview many of the townspeople who participated in the wartime effort.

- end -

Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

For news archives go to http://www.centre.edu/web/news/newsarchive.html.

Back to News and Events Home Page