Safe Haven To Screen In India
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| Ryszard Zabinski visits his childhood home. |
Blue Heron International Pictures
announced today that Safe Haven: The Warsaw Zoo,
an award-winning Holocaust documentary directed by
Gary Lester, has been accepted by the WorldKids International
Film Festival for screening in Mumbai, India.
The festival is a project of the
WorldKids Foundation in Mumbai. According to Manju Singh,
Festival Director, "We
firmly believe that with films such as yours, we help children
become better equipped to face the world with better skills
and knowledge."
"We are absolutely thrilled that Safe Haven has
attracted a lot of attention in classrooms around the world," said director Gary Lester. "When
Jan Zabinski was asked why he risked his life and the welfare
of his family to save the lives of strangers, he replied,
'We did it because it was the right thing to do.' The message
of the film is universal and timeless."
In Poland, Aleksandra Blalteberg, an English teacher, has created a Safe Haven study guide in English to help her students better understand the issues of the Holocaust, and the importance of such values as tolerance, empathy, and courage.
Blalteberg's class in Gdynia, Poland is part of a network of students known as Global Dreamers, which was created by Israeli school-teacher Marsha Goren.
"I am absolutely delighted," said Goren, upon hearing the
news about the WorldKids festival.
Due to the efforts of Israeli producer Alex Ringer, Safe Haven has been broadcast twice on Israeli national television with both Hebrew and Russian subtitles.
It also screens at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, which recently started selling the DVD in the museum store.
Safe Haven: The Warsaw Zoo was produced by Feliks Pastusiak in Warsaw and Alex Ringer in Israel. It was directed by Gary Lester, and premiered at the West Hollywood International Film Festival last year, where it captured a Special Juror Mention.
The film has won numerous awards at film festivals
around the country, including Best Director at the Treasure
Coast International Film Festival, and Best Documentary
at both the Melbourne Independent Filmmakers Festival
and the Los Angeles Cinema Festival of Hollywood. The
film was also honored with six Crystal Reels from the
Florida Motion Picture & Television Association.
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| Director Gary Lester with Producer Feliks Pastusiak in New York City |
For information about the Global Dreamers, visit www.globaldreamers.org
To join the Global Dreamers on Facebook, click
Teachers can find the Safe Haven Study guide at
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