The next film of 2015 in the Sandra and Mendel Rosenberg Sunday Afternoon Film Series will be Les Hommes Libres, screening at 1 pm on February 22, in the Holocaust Museum’s theatre at Jewish Federation Kopolow Building, 12 Millstone Campus Drive. This fictionalized film, based on historical events, recounts the largely untold story of the role that Algerian and other North African Muslims in Paris played in the French Resistance and as rescuers of Jews during the German occupation (1940-1944). The filmmaker, Ismael Ferroukhi, skillfully intertwines fictional characters with historical figures such as the rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris and Salim Halili, an Algerian Jewish singer. This 2011 film has a running time of 99 minutes and will be screened in French with English subtitles.
Introductory remarks and a post screening discussion will be facilitated by Sara Jay, a doctoral candidate in the History Department of Washington University and 2012-2013 Fulbright Scholar to Israel, whose research focuses on Modern Jewish History. Films in this Sunday series are free and open to the public but reservations are requested. To RSVP or for further information, call 314-442-3711 or email AGoldfeder@JFedSTL.org.