Written by Bill Papastergiadis OAM.
My People, the feature historical documentary that Anna Rezan created to make globally known the untold story of the Jews of Greece during the Holocaust, the significant role of the Christian clergy, and the impeccable Greek Resistance during WWII, has had its Australian premiere at the Greek Film Festival in Melbourne.
I had the privilege of meeting Anna recently in Athens. Anna is both an actress and director and was recently honoured in Washington DC for her contribution to history, arts and culture.
The film promotes the Christian Orthodox clergy and its miraculous efforts to shelter Jews and support the Resistance like no other.
Anna told me in Athens that “even though the Holocaust survivors experienced terrible trauma and awful circumstances, the film aims to set an example which transforms that energy exhibited by the survivors into a feeling of empowerment which everyone should have, including the audience.”
Anna remarked to me that there is a line in the movie which says “my history is your history.” For Anna, this message about grandparents and great grandparents is, as she put it, “a message that they still learned to enjoy life after these terrible circumstances and to have the ability to transform this experience into something powerful. It is a universal message.”
The multi-awarded documentary that is co-produced by Anna, Zafeiris Haitidis, Pantelis Kodogiannis, and Academy Award winners Mitchell Block and Kim Magnusson, is a hymn to love and courage that intends to educate but also to inspire young people of all ages across the world to learn from history.
The documentary is presented in association with the Jewish Museum of Australia on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Holocaust.